Why Is Hail Getting So Big?

[Todd Lemery]

I’m really curious about how big the biggest hailstone ever really was. The biggest tornado ever was never going to get by with nobody knowing about it, but the biggest hailstones were extremely likely to never have been found. With more people gathering around big storms nowadays we have a chance to get a better look at what the upper limits they can achieve may be.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I would almost expect gorilla hail size occurrences and reports to increase simply due to storms being documented more than ever before. In the past, you'd mostly have localized reports where it occurred and did damage, whereas almost every single storm these days has someone there to possibly experience it, or at the very least move in quickly after it's fallen to the ground.

"Hailstorms are Causing Billions in Damage, Scientists are Studying Why it Happens" - I'll save them some time by saying that it could have something to do with the extensive development of land that isn't shrinking. Big hailstorms falling on open prairie doesn't cost as much.

 

[Randy Zipser]

All great stuff above; thanks for sharing it!

Something that is very little reported (except, perhaps, in very localized newspapers (if those even exist anymore) or in local social media?) are incidents of cattle or other farm/ranch animals being killed due to being struck with large hail. Even in the early days of storm chasing, I do not recall seeing anything or hearing any stories about that topic.

Animals that live out on the open range have evolved enough "survival instinct" to protect themselves from dangerous weather situations, even though they do not have the intellect or reasoning skills that humans do. However, I've observed that their behavior is similar to what a human would do if no shelter of any kind was available: get as low to the ground as possible and curl-up to protect vital organs (particularly the head) and the young. I think this is the reason that adult cattle huddle together in a tight circle, standing upright, to protect their calves lying on the ground beneath. They also have an amazing sense of where (what direction?) the hailstorm is approaching from, and face their tail-ends into that direction, so as to protect their eyes and heads. I wonder how many tornado chasers notice things like that?

I've seen this same behavior in ranch cattle while living in both Oklahoma and Kansas, so it must be a natural instinct. I have read about cattle being killed more by lightning, but this is relatively rare, even in Florida where CG lightning is very frequent in the summer "sea-breeze front" months (June through September).

 

[Dan Robinson]

Thanks James! Those bigger ones are pretty resistant to melting for about 60 seconds at a time if they’ve been stored in a freezer or with dry ice. There’s usually enough time to get a few shots in before they begin melting. I keep them sealed in ziplock bags as they will sublimate and collect frost if left exposed.

I built a photo setup with a high-powered LED work light behind black plastic sheeting, with a 1” hole cut to get some high-res detail shots. Although I hated to do it, I sawed a couple of them in half to get cutaway shots (not the biggest ones).



Here is the result:

Giant Hail near Taylor, Nebraska :: High-Resolution Photography by Dan Robinson

Stock photography of hailstones from severe thunderstorms.

stormhighway.com