Hail

Hail consists of globules of ice that fall like rain. It is more usual in spring and summer, and is observed to fall during the heat of the day. Hail rarely falls during the night. The size of the globules varies from that of a pea to that of an egg or small orange; exceptional cases have been noticed where the hailstones have weighed as much as 3 lbs. Drops of rain that are whirled upwards by an ascending current of air will form snow if lifted sufficiently high; if they are rapidly carried to a greater height they will be frozen into ice and so form hailstones. In a whirlwind they may be carried up and down alternately for several cycles before escaping the eddy and falling to the ground, and may in these separate ascents receive fresh additions of compact snow or ice. Examination of a large hailstone will generally show the different layers of which it is thus composed.