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📘 How a thunderstorm makes hail

Follow hail from ice embryo through supercooled growth, melting, and fall.

10
lessons
~10 min
to learn
🔬 Science
subject
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Storm ingredients
  2. Updraft
  3. Freezing
  4. Accretion
  5. Layers
  6. Recycling
  7. Melting
  8. Fall
  9. Radar clues
  10. Hazard

Questions this course answers

What three ingredients help hail grow?

NSSL identifies an ice seed, supercooled liquid water, and enough updraft time as key ingredients.

Why can hailstone layers be clear or cloudy?

Rapid freezing traps bubbles for cloudy ice; slower freezing allows clearer ice.

Why do supercells often make large hail?

Long-lived, rotating updrafts give hailstones repeated growth opportunities.

What happens when hail becomes too heavy for the updraft?

Hail falls once its weight exceeds the support provided by the updraft and drag.

Why can radar detect hail aloft when the ground gets rain?

Small or exposed hailstones can melt before reaching the surface.

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