Introduction to a weather condition: HAIL

When a hailstorm hits, keep yourself and your pets away from the windows, glass doors or anything that could shatter. Avoid using the telephone during a storm(during anything it's not advisable), and do not touch metal objects like stoves, radiators, metal pipes, and sinks. find shelter and avoid underpasses or any low lying areas that may flood when hailstorm hits, Hail comes down at great speed, especially when accompanied by high winds. hail is one of Canada's most expensive hazards Although no one in Canada has ever been killed by hail, people have been seriously injured by it.

                                WHAT IS HAIL?

hail is a solid precipitation, it consist of balls of irregular lumps of ice each of which is called hailstone.
American sleet fall generally i cold weather while hail growth is greatly inhibited during cold temperature
when hail come in contact with supercooled water, which freezes on contact with any particle such as ice crystal,dust or some other type of particle.

                           FORMATION OF HAILSTONE

strong thunderstorm clouds includes in the formation of hail, mainly those with intense escalade, high liquid water content, large water droplets, and
where a good portion of cloud layer is below freezing 0degreeCELSUS (32degree Fahrenheit), these strong escalades also indicate the presence of a tornado.
the growth rate is maximized where air is near a temperature of -13degreeCELSUS (9degree Fahrenheit).

hail begins as water droplets as every other precipitation in the cumulonimbus clouds, as the droplets rise and the temperature goes below freezing point, they become supercooled water and will freeze in contact with condensation nuclei.

the storm's escalade, with upwardly directed wind speeds as high as 110 miles/hour (180 km/h), blows the forming hailstones up the cloud, As the hailstone
ascends it passes into areas of the cloud where the concentration of humidity and supercooled water droplets varies.

During thunderstorms, hail is most likely within the cloud at elevation above 20,000 feet(6,100m). Between 10,000 feet(3000m) and 20,000 feet(6,100m), 60% of hail
is still within the thunderstorm, though 40% now lies within the clear air under the anvil. Below 10,000 feet hail is equally distributed in and around the thunderstorm
to a distance of 2 nautical miles (3.7km).

                HAILSTONE HAZARDS

hailstone have been the cause of costly and deadly events throughout history, the largest hailstone in term of diameter and weight
ever recorded in the united states fell on July 23, 2010 in Vivian south Dakota, it measured 8inches(20cm) in diameter and 18.62inches(47.3cm) in circumference, weighing in at 1.93pounds (0.88kg). hail is one of Canada's worse hazards, rarely massive hailstones have been known to cause concussions or fatal head trauma,

an early hailstone incident occurred in the 9th century in ROOPKUND, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA were 200 to 600 nomad seem to have died of injuries from hail as big as a cricket ball.

Hail can damage sensitive crops such as wheat, corn, tobacco and soyabeans, can destroy windows, cars, roofs and even hurt animals(including humans), depending on how large the hailstones are pea sized hailstone is unlikely to do much, hail is also one of the most significant thunderstorm hazard to aircraft, when they exceed a certain diameter planes can be seriously damaged withing seconds the hailstone accumulating on the ground can also be hazardous to landing aircraft.

                 HAIL ACCUMULATION

hail streak(hail swaths), is known as the narrow zones where hail accumulates on the ground in association with thunderstorm. these can be detected by satellites when the storm passes.
hailstorms usually last for a few minutes up to 15minutes in duration. Accumulating hailstones can blanket the ground with over 2inches (5.1cm) of hail, brings down many trees, causes thousands to loose power,

flash flooding and mudslide within areas of steep terrain. Accumulated hail can also cause flooding by blocking drains, and hail can be carried in the floodwater, turning into a snow-white slush which is deposited at lower elevation

The basic problem in continuing research in this area is that, unlike the diameter of hail, hail depth is not commonly reported(usually varies). the lack of data leaves researchers and forecasters in the dark when trying to verify operational method. A cooperative effort between university of Colorado and the national weather service is in progress. the joint projects goal is to enlist the help of the general public to develop a database of hail accumulation depth.

        SUPPRESSION and PREVENTION of HAILSTORM

Source

in the middle ages people in Europe used to ring the church bells and fire canons to try to prevent hail and subsequent damage to crops,cloud seeding after world war 2 was DONE TO ELIMINATE the hail threat particularly across Russia,
50% to 80% reduction in crop damage from hail storms was achieved by deploying silver iodide in clouds using rockets and artillery shells.
unfortunately no hail prevention method have proved to work.

                                    **CREDITS**

1. MY FACTS AND MEASUREMENTS WERE GOTTEN OFF WIKIPEDIA
2. THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS BY I AND MY FRIENDS @KELVINDENNIS AND @MEECHIE