What causes hail to be different sizes?
Understanding how hail is formed in the sky is important to determining its size and how it can cause damage.
FILE: Hail shatters windows in Oklahoma City
Severe storms brought hail to the Oklahoma City metro area, leaving the windows of cars shattered.
Hail comes in a variety of sizes, and most people don't look forward to hearing large hail is a possibility during severe weather, fearing damage to their cars or homes.
Understanding how hail is formed in the sky is important to determining its size and how it can cause damage.
According to the National Weather Service, during a thunderstorm, drafts of air carry water droplets up into clouds high in the atmosphere where the air is below freezing. The water droplets collide with other droplets right before they freeze into ice, creating hailstones.
WHICH STATE IS MOST AT RISK FOR HAIL DAMAGE IN A GIVEN SEASON? HINT: IT'S NOT IN TORNADO ALLEY
This photo shows a large hailstone that fell during severe weather in Kerrville, Texas, on March 23, 2025.
(Glenn Perrigo/Facebook / FOX Weather)
The longer the droplets stay high in the atmosphere, the larger the hail becomes.
Once frozen together, the water droplets-turned-hailstones become too heavy for the winds inside clouds to support, and fall back to the ground.
Hailstones can vary in size, with each size comparable to an average household object, such as coins, sports balls or fruit.
SNOW, SLEET, FREEZING RAIN AND HAIL: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Hail Size representation
(FOX Weather)
Large hail can cause damage to aircraft, homes and cars. It can also injure or even kill people or animals not under shelter, according to the NWS.
Different sizes of hail fall at different speeds, as well. So, the larger the hailstone, the faster it falls to the ground.
How fast does hail fall
(FOX Weather)
It's possible for softball-sized hail to fall to the ground at speeds exceeding 100 mph, according to the NWS.
FILE: Strange hail flow mimics lava during severe thunderstorm in Nebraska
A wild hailstorm left a surreal scene in Nebraska where clumps of accumulating hail oozed across a Scottsbluff yard as if it were being covered by a frozen lava. (Video courtesy: Chad Casey via Storyful)
Most hailstorms contain hail of different sizes, and they can be clear or cloudy ice, or contain layers of both.
The clarity of the ice in a hailstone depends on how fast the water droplets freeze into ice. If it freezes instantaneously, it becomes cloudy. If the water freezes slowly, it will be clear.