The Force Behind Giant Hail
lblu from Getty Images/CanvaPro
Hailstorms cause more than $10 billion [1] annually in property damage, injuries and fatalities. In 2024, State Farm[2] paid more than $3.8 billion for home repairs and $1.2 billion for auto repairs due to hailstorms nationwide. In 2022, a storm in Spain produced hail nearly five inches in diameter, injuring 70 people, killing a child and damaging buildings.
Hail forms in a thunderstorm when warm air rises, carrying raindrops into the cold atmosphere where they freeze and then fall at sizes ranging from tiny chips to baseballs or larger, depending on the rain amount, updraft strength and duration, as well as how long the ice remains suspended.
Research published in Nature in 2024 indicates that while climate warming may reduce hailstorm frequency, hail size is expected to increase due to stronger updrafts. The National Science Foundation funded a study [3] this summer to understand hailstone growth and the forces affecting their fall, aiming to improve meteorologists’ ability to predict significant hailstorms.
