Emergency Preparedness Severe Storms Awareness Week: Hail

Tiny (or not-so-tiny) chunks of ice falling from the sky! Not our idea of a good time.

Quick Facts:

A Stormy Icemaker
Hail consists of balls of ice that form in the extreme turbulence of strong thunderstorms. Even in otherwise warm weather, the special conditions inside a severe storm can generate significant amounts of hail.
Great Balls of Ice
As rain inside of storm clouds freezes, melts, and re-freezes during the storm’s circulation, more and more layers of ice are added to the balls of ice before they become heavy enough to fall. This can allow the ice to grow a lot – even to the size of softballs!
A Sign to Take Shelter
Because of all the special conditions needed to make it, hail only forms in very strong, very dangerous storms. The larger the hail, the more dangerous the storm…so if you see hail start to fall, get indoors quickly!

Be even more hail-safe with this handy storm, wind, and hail info sheet from FEMA.

Shared by Lori Peck, BS, MT, Garrett County Health Department’s Public Health Emergency Planner