Hail of a storm

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Our hosts: Klaus | Sandy | Ivar | Wren | Louise | Fishing Guy

SKY WATCH FRIDAY (click the word to link and participate!)
Thanks to Dot and Tom, who were instrumental in the success of this blogging event. You should definitely come fly with us!On Monday, our sky was brimming with instability, and it excited me to watch the cumulus towers boil up high into the troposphere, growing with urgency, turmoiled tops rolling with activity, growing in power and strength. I knew what that meant... Instability, moisture and lift (the key thunderstorm ingredients) had collided offering us an opportunity for some exciting weather. In our case, it meant a rare hail storm in Valdosta. Hail captured by my wonderful groom:Hail captured by Emily F. in her yard:When you see extraordinarily large towers, the potential exists for hail, which forms in large cumulonimbus clouds.

Hail can be found in the middle and upper portions of almost all thunderstorms. However, most either melts before hitting the ground, or being very soft, disintegrates in the violent thunderstorm interior.
~source

When clouds climb to extraordinary heights of 40,000 or 50,000 or even 60,000 feet, the top part of the cloud is supercooled with temperatures well below freezing. Hail then forms in a couple of ways.

1. The hail nucleus, buoyed by the updraft is carried aloft by the updraft and begins to grow in size as it collides with supercooler raindrops and other small pieces of hail.
2. Sometimes the hailstone is blown out of the main updraft and begins to falls to the earth.
3. If the updraft is strong enough it will move the hailstone back into the cloud where it once again collides with water and hail and grows. This process may be repeated several times.
4. In all cases, when the hailstone can no longer be supported by the updraft it falls to the earth. The stronger the updraft, the larger the hailstones that can be produced by the thunderstorm.
~source

Fast Facts about hail

On June 22, 2003, a hailstone recovered in Aurora, NE, had a diameter of 7" (17.8 cm) and a circumference of 18 3/4" (47.6 cm). This hailstone was larger than the previous record large hailstone that fell in Coffeyville, KS, in 1970 (5.7" (14.5 cm) diameter and 17.5" (44.5 cm) circumference). However, weight, is the most important measurement. An accurate weight could not be determined for the Aurora hailstone; so the Coffeyville hailstone of 1970 remains the heaviest hailstone weighed and verified in the United States at 1.67 pounds (0.76 kg).

Hail causes $1 billion in damages to crops and property each year.

Hailstones can fall at speeds up to 120 mph (53 m/s).

Costliest United States hailstorm: Fort worth, Texas, May 5 1995. Total damage was $2 billion.

List of costliest and deadliest hail storms.

In my case, this was my first time seeing hail, and I drove through two hail swaths, each with about 1/2 to 3/4" hailstones. It was exciting and non-destructive. We also had ferocious downpours of rain on Tuesday, but there were no hail reports.

I will post about our last day of San Diego tomorrow.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop