FIRST ALERT: How Does Hail Form?

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - We’ve seen a few reports of hail from storms earlier this week but how does it form? Meteorologist Matt Bullock explains how hail is formed.

HOW DOES HAIL FORM

Think of this during the spring and summer months we get these powerful storms with strong updrafts. These frozen water droplets move up along the updraft once it gets high enough it passes the freezing level. Once is passes the freezing level, the water droplet becomes an ice droplet. As it continues to move up along the updraft it’s hitting water droplets and ice particles and it’s makes that ice droplets grow bigger and bigger. Once the ice gets too heavy the updraft to hold or the updraft weakens, that ice particle begins to fall to fall down. This is known as hail!

HAIL SIZES

It come in many shapes and sizes from the size of a pea to the size of a grapefruit. Anything larger than an inch of diameter also known as quarter sized hail in consider in that severe weather category. The largest hailstone that has ever fell in United States was located in Vivian, South Dakota back on July 23, 2010. It was 8 inches in diameter which also the size of volleyball.

The largest hailstone that fell in the Pee Dee was back on May 25th, 2000. Where we had grapefruit sized hail in Florence which was 4.5 inches in diameter. That hailstorm caused six million dollars in damage for the City of Florence.