hail

Also known as hailing, hailstone, terror from above

thumb|A large hailstone, about in diameter

AI overview

Hail is a type of precipitation that forms as hard pellets or balls of ice falling from thunderstorms, and the image shows an example of a notably large hailstone. Hail matters because large hailstones can cause significant damage to crops, property, and vehicles, making it an important weather hazard to monitor and understand.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: A field of hailstones.jpg

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Hail
Commons gallery: Hail
decomposition point: 0
name: grêlon

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Article

17 sections

Contents

Definition
Formation
Layer nature of the hailstones
Factors favoring hail
Scientific study
Climatology
Short-term detection
Size and terminal velocity
Size comparisons to objects
Hail records
Hazards
Accumulations
Suppression and prevention
See also
References
Further reading
External links

thumb|A large hailstone, about in diameter

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fall in cold weather, while hail growth is greatly inhibited during low surface temperatures.