What is Hail?

Hail forms when updrafts, or rising air, in thunderstorms carry raindrops upward into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere, allowing the raindrops to freeze. The stronger the updraft, the bigger the hailstone can become before falling out of the storm, typically when the hailstone becomes too heavy for the updraft.

Hail Size Chart

While the National Weather Service encourages the actual measurement of hail size, oftentimes, an object-to-size conversion can provide important information about hail that fall from thunderstorms. Below you will find a list of common objects used to describe the diameter of observed hail.