Top 7 Cool and Surprising Fun Facts About Hail You Need to Know

1. Mother Nature's Softball Surprise

When life gave Mother Nature lemons, she decided to make hailstones the size of softballs – now that's an ice-cold curveball: The largest hailstone ever recorded in the US weighed nearly 2 pounds with an 8-inch diameter, formed by rapidly freezing supercooled water, warm updrafts, and wind speeds nearing 100 mph. Although usually not fatal, hail has caused significant destruction, like the infamous $2 billion hail storm which pelted Dallas in 1995.
Source => washingtonpost.com

2. Record-Breaking Hailstone in South Dakota

When Mother Nature gets a craving for ice golf, she really goes for a hole-in-one: On July 23, 2010, a massive hailstone broke all United States records when it landed in Vivian, South Dakota, boasting an 8-inch diameter and a heavyweight title of 1.9375 pounds.
Source => weather.gov

Discover Mother Nature's private art collection of unique six-sided crystal structures, created by temperature and moisture influences during a snowflake's delicate journey from sky to ground. 🌨❄️✨

=> Fun Facts about Snow

3. The Costly Catch of Hail

When Mother Nature decides to play a game of "catch" with us feeble humans, it sure isn't with a soft, harmless ball: hailstones can range in size anywhere from a tiny pea to a softball capable of causing major property damage. The National Weather Service defines large hailstones as being at least 1 inch in diameter, and these frosty troublemakers result in billions of dollars in expenses annually for insurers, homeowners, and farmers in America. So, the next time the sky is having a field day, seek cover and guard your assets!
Source => weather.com

4. Hail's Seasonal Ice-Bucket Challenge

Mother Nature's ice-bucket challenge can show up to crash the party any time of the year: significant hail events are recorded in every month, with the majority reported between March and June, and the largest hailstones on record making their dramatic entrance in April and May. So always be ready to duck when the sky starts hurling icy projectiles!
Source => weather.gov

5. Nature's Pinball: Hailstone Speeds

Next time you're caught in a hailstorm, remember you're attending nature's very own pinball game: Hailstones can fall at speeds ranging from a leisurely 9 mph for pebbles less than 1 inch in diameter, to a whopping 100 mph for those chunky 2 to 4-inch mammoths – all crashing down from the same storm cloud's arcade.
Source => nssl.noaa.gov

6. Hail's 100 MPH Fastball

Hold on to your hats and baseball mitts because hailstones are getting ready to "pitch" a dangerously fast game: It's a fact that hail can reach speeds of up to 100 mph, similar to a major league fastball, as thunderstorm updrafts carry raindrops into the extreme cold atmosphere, transforming them into hailstones that eventually fall to the ground when too heavy, according to the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Source => charlotteobserver.com

7. The Hailstone Heavyweight Champ of Bangladesh

Move over, any measly baseball-sized hailstones because there's a new big kid on the block, or should we say, a strapping heavy weight champ in the skies: In 1986, in Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, a jaw-dropping 2.25-pound hailstone came crashing down, making lesser hailstones pale in comparison. Unfortunately, this monstrous hailstorm proved fatal for 92 people and hence, the need for impact-resistant roofs has been set in more than just stone.
Source => decra.com