Hailstones

"Hailstones" in a Sentence (4 examples)

The hailstones were as big as tennis balls.

Hailstones the size of golf balls wreaked havoc on the city overnight.

When the vast Central plains of the United States darken with thunderhead clouds, and rain and hailstones begin to pelt the ground, everyone and everything takes cover, except the pilots of the armor-plated T-28 Storm Penetrator airplane.

Hailstones are formed when raindrops are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere and freeze. Hailstones then grow by colliding with liquid water drops that freeze onto the hailstone’s surface. If the water freezes instantaneously when colliding with the hailstone, cloudy ice will form as air bubbles will be trapped in the newly formed ice. However, if the water freezes slowly, the air bubbles can escape and the new ice will be clear. The hail falls when the thunderstorm’s updraft can no longer support the weight of the hailstone, which can occur if the stone becomes large enough or the updraft weakens.

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