How can hail stay in the air before falling down, and how can it be big sometimes but small others?
In: Earth Science
The same way a hurricane can flip over your car. The wind up there can go pretty fast, and hail is basically a raindrop which is blown upwards on a powerful updraft, back to where it’s so cold, the rain freezes into a small pellet. Then if the updraft continues, it stays up there as it attracts and condenses more of the moisture on its surface, like frost on a mug full of a cold beverage. When the updrafts cease to be strong enough to keep the hail aloft, down they come.
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