This is Severe Weather Preparedness Week and today’s focus is on Wind and Hail. Like lightning, wind and hail are elements of thunderstorms that are very common and both can cause significant damage. Warning Coordination Meteorologist Andy Bailey says we need to take severe thunderstorm warnings seriously because of their potential.
Bailey cited a storm in Iowa in 2020.
That storm caused damage estimated near $11 billion.
Hail can range in size from pea-sized or smaller to VERY large.
Hail is formed when raindrops freeze and are caught in the thunderstorm’s updraft. The ice pellet rises and falls, growing larger with each cycle until it is too heavy for the updraft to hold it and it falls to the ground. The larger the hailstone, the more severe the storm. This hail can cause damage to homes, vehicle buildings, crops, and injury to people and animals.