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Texas slammed with hail, but what's inside?

Texas slammed with hail, but what's inside?
Posted at 8:35 AM, Apr 29, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-30 05:24:43-04

A round of severe storms slammed the Central Plains Wednesday producing heavy wind and damaging hail. People in Texas took to social media to post photos and videos of hail the size of softballs.

But did you know the inside of hail has rings? The rings are similar to tree rings.

This happens when a small hailstone is continuously suspended aloft in a thunderstorm and is coated in water droplets that freeze over time. The rings give a good indication of how many times the hailstone went through this cycle. Larger hailstones will have more rings suggesting the severity of the storm.

Eventually, the updraft will weaken or the hailstone will become so heavy that gravity will force it to fall to the ground.

It's important to know most thunderstorms contain at least some hail, but it's usually small and melts as it gets closer to the surface.


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