WHY DOES HAIL FORM?

When hailstorms hit, they can cause extensive property damage, especially when it comes to vehicles. Many people are forced to seek vehicle repairs following hailstorms. Nevertheless, most people don’t understand why hail forms in the first place.

Hail is a form of frozen precipitation that takes shape as a result of very strong thunderstorms, and it can fall from the sky at just about any time of the year. During some thunderstorms, water vapor and rain will get caught in the updrafts that naturally occur and get pushed high up inside of cumulonimbus clouds. Once they reach a certain height, the air drops below freezing, and the water gets stuck there and condenses onto dust and other particles found in the air to form ice particles. Over time, those ice particles get pulled back down towards the earth by gravity and end up colliding with raindrops to form what becomes hail. The hailstones can then bob up and down depending upon the severity of the storm before eventually becoming too heavy and falling down to the ground. This is how hailstorms happen.

CONDITIONS THAT CREATE A HAILSTORM In order for a hailstorm to take place, the National Weather Service says the updrafts in a thunderstorm need to be very strong. They have to be at least 37 mph for small hailstones to form. If they are able to reach 56 mph, the hailstones can grow to be the size of golf balls, and if they manage to hit 100 mph, the hailstones can be as large as baseballs. The updrafts play an important role in the formation of hailstorms and ultimately determine how much hail forms and how large hailstones get.

At MDR Sydney, we know the immense damage that a hailstorm can do, and we are here for those who have suffered damage to their vehicles due to hail. Contact us today if your vehicle was recently damaged by hail, and we can provide you with our excellent repair services.