hail phenomena

Hail forms when strong updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops high into extremely cold areas of the storm cloud, causing them to freeze into ice. These ice pellets can be lifted multiple times, gaining layers of ice and growing larger. When the updraft weakens or the hailstones become too heavy to stay aloft, they fall to the ground as hail. The size of hailstones depends on the strength of updrafts and the duration they remain within the cloud, which explains variations from small pellets to golf ball-sized hail.