Monday, June 02, 2008

HAIL

Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English hægl; akin to Old High German hagal hail
Date: before 12th century
Yesterday about 5 pm we had a hailstorm. It has been storming on and off most of the day, but on the first day of June a HAIL STORM? We usually have those in Mid July. Nonetheless a sight to behold… our hail was Pea sized, no damage to the veggie garden or the flowers… The sky was a kaleidoscope of activity that was totally memorizing The name "Kaleidoscope" is a combination of three Greek words that mean "an instrument with which we can see things of beautiful form.". "The Kaleidoscope fascinates us all, and we watch - and wait - sometimes holding our breath, as the patterns of color continue to change with the passage of time." Rebecca Blackwell Drake

So was this storm…while some hailstorms are truly devastating we were lucky in the small amounts that plummeted down on our deck.
Pictures of different sized Hail! Storm Chaser on You Tube!
Nearly everyone welcomes the warm, sunny days of summer. But with summer come thunderstorms, bringing tornadoes, flash floods, and hail. Although tornadoes and flash floods are dramatic by-products of thunderstorms, hail can be far more devastating to property and crops.
Hail is formed in huge cumulonimbus clouds, commonly known as thunderheads. When the ground is heated during the day by the sun, the air close to the ground is heated as well. Hot air, being less dense and therefore lighter than cold air, rises and cools. As it cools, its capacity for holding moisture decreases. When the rising, warm air has cooled so much that it cannot retain all of its moisture, water vapor condenses, forming puffy-looking clouds. The condensing moisture releases heat of its own into the surrounding air, causing the air to rise faster and give up even more moisture.
Plinking on our Patio Table
More here on the FACT SHEET!
Hail Basics!
Amazing CLOUD formations
Enjoy!

7 comments:

dot said...

Good pictures, good information and a just plain out nice post!! We don't see much hail here. Nor rain for the past year.

DeeMom said...

Awwwwwwwwwwww Dot thanks for the kind words...

WOW no rain to speak of fir the last year YE GADS

Georgia is sure suffering, so sad...is there any end to this?

Lilli & Nevada said...

Oh wow we had some hail this weekend on our camping trip but not as big as yours.
Great shots

Alyssa said...

Those are excellent pictures! I especially like the clouds - beautiful. You are lucky that the hail was as small as it was and didn't do any damage. It sure can be wicked stuff!

imac said...

magnifico.
We have haevy rain at the mo, but your hail stones are wow factor, also your other photos are beautiful.


Later today I'll post some flowers from Alnwick Gardens.

Thanks for visiting my blog and your kind comments.

Anonymous said...

I just hope and sometimes pray the bad weather go around us. I think it listens and does. Sometimes then I have to remind the weather to come back as we need a break in the heat or we need some rain. And it comes back. We are in for some rain today and there was talk about hail but I am hoping that stuff doesn't come here as we would loose a lot of plants that a lot of animals depend on for food.

I thoroughly enjoyed your post and your photographs of the hail were really nice to look at.

The other thing about hail here is that we have three skylights and they all date from 1981. I don't know how long they should last but I do think we are beyond whatever lifetime they must have been manufactured to have.

I mentioned that to my wife and she said, "That's why we have insurance." And I guess she is right. Maybe it is the mess I wouldn't like to confront.

DeeMom said...

GREAT news you all Check the post after this one