Hail

[MarkMiller]

Can someone post a chart of some sort that shows the progressive updraft speeds associated with hail size? Just caught the last half of the news on WBNS Columbus Ohio that briefly showed one. It would be helpfull to newbies to visualize this particular phenomenon. Thanks

 

[Waylon K]

I think you could try to reverse to look at it and maybe look at a picture.

 

[Randy Jennings]

See table at: https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/hail

 

[Boris Konon]

See table at: https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/hail

Unrelated to this query, I noted one item that is not really true from the link above.

"While Florida has the most thunderstorms, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming usually have the most hail storms. Why? The freezing level in the Florida thunderstorms is so high, the hail often melts before reaching the ground."

Freezing level only matters for small hail. For large hail (approx golf ball or larger) the hailstone mass is large enough and falls fast enough that no matter how high the freezing level is, the hailstone will usually make to the surface before fully melting.

More importantly, hail is so common in NM/CO/WY and not FL b/c of the ever-present EML and drier climate. Having high CAPE at mid-levels makes hailstone growth more efficient w/ the steep lapse rates, something a tropical climate lacks. And a drier climate means less liquid water overall, which helps in letting smaller hailstones reach the ground b/c the liquid impacting the hailstones will melt them faster than no liquid present mixing in. This is not true for larger hailstones, as the mass is large enough and so cold interior, liquid on the hailstone will often freeze even for much of the descent below the freezing level, so max hail size can be bigger than the max updraft speed, as in its final descent, the hailstone grows more due to liquid impacts.

Also, the high and irregular topography just makes hail making it to the surface in NM/CO/WY more likely, regardless of size.