Hailstones

Hailstones are balls or lumps of ice that form inside thunderstorms with strong updrafts. When updrafts carry raindrops upward into extremely cold areas of the storm, these drops freeze into ice. The hailstone can grow as it gains additional layers of ice by circulating through the storm's supercooled regions, and it may be carried up and down repeatedly. Once it becomes heavy enough and the updraft can no longer support it, the hailstone falls to the ground as hail. Larger hailstones can cause damage to property, vehicles, and crops.