Hail Doesn’t Form the Way You Think, Scientists Say

In high school Earth science, you likely learned that hailstorms form when strong upward winds push water droplets to freezing altitudes, where they solidify and gather additional layers of ice as they cycle up and down the storm cloud. When they grow too heavy, they plummet to the ground. For once, however, new research suggests that the truth might be simpler than what we were taught to believe. An international team of researchers has shed light on the formation and growth of hailstones in storm clouds by analyzing chemical signatures within the ice. Their analysis, published April 2 in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, shows that most hailstones form through simpler, more direct paths than previously assumed—an observation that challenges the idea that most hailstones form by repeatedly cycling through storms clouds. In addition to contesting widespread notions about hail formation, the study could help improve forecasts of severe weather. “This work fundamentally cha ... Read full article.