Hail fell on Miami, and more may be coming. How does it form and what should you do?
South Florida is used to seeing forecasts about falling iguanas, flood watches and the occasional record-high temperatures.
What we’re not used to seeing: Hail.
The ice can be pea-size or as big as a softball, though we normally don’t see it get that large in South Florida. That’s because it usually melts in the air before it reaches the ground, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.
Weather service forecaster Larry Kelly said the region can usually see some hail between March and June, though it can sometimes happen in July.
Palm Beach County and Central Florida saw some hail in March and parts of Miami-Dade saw some hail on Sunday, with hail in Monday’s forecast too.
Hail is one of the hazards that can come with thunderstorms, and sometimes causes damage to homes and cars. It can also hurt humans and pets.
But while Florida does get hail, it’s not as well-known as other weather seasons.
Now that it’s the season for an ice pelting, what should you do if you’re driving or taking a walk outside and it starts to hail? How does it form and how big can it get in South Florida?
Here’s what to know:
What is hail? How does it form?
Hail is basically frozen raindrops. The National Weather Service says the precipitation forms when updrafts (rising air) in thunderstorms carry raindrops up into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere. The higher the updraft takes the hail, the more it grows.
How?
Hail grows by colliding with other pieces of hail or by colliding with “supercooled water drops,” which are “liquid drops surrounded by air that is below freezing,” and are commonly found in thunderstorms, according to the weather service.
Once a piece of hail gets too heavy for the updraft to keep carrying it, the hail falls and will either melt before it reaches the surface or you’ll eventually see and hear the ice falling onto your car, home and driveway. Sometimes, smaller hail will be blown away from the storm.
And here’s a fun weather fact: Hail that looks like clear ice underwent “wet growth,” which is like a slow freeze. Hail that looks like cloudy ice underwent “dry growth,” which is an immediate freeze.
How big can hail get? What damage can it do?
Hail has a range of sizes, and it depends on how high the updraft takes it into the atmosphere (and how quickly).
Here are some examples from the National Weather Service:
An updraft speed of 24 mph could create pea-size hail and a 49 mph updraft could create a quarter-size hail. At 64 mph, hail could be golf-ball size, at 98 mph it could be grapefruit size, and at 103 mph it could be the size of a softball.
The largest hail recorded in the Sunshine State was the size of a grapefruit, at 4.5, inches, according to ClickOrlando.com. It was observed three times in the state — March 1996 in Polk County, March 2003 in Bradford County and May 2007 in Marion County, according to the news site.
When South Florida sees hail, it’s usually small, like pea-size or quarter-size, Kelly said. He said it’s rare to see hail larger than two inches in the region. Hail that’s two inches is considered “hen egg” size and is larger than a golf ball, according to the weather service’s hail size estimator.
Sometimes, hail can dent cars, damage roofs, break windows. And yes, it can hurt people and animals, too. Naturally, the larger the hail, the more damage it can cause.
The good news is that hail injuries, including fatalities, are rare. NOAA estimates that 24 people in the United States are injured each year by hail, with some requiring hospitalization, according to Accuweather.
READ MORE: See pictures of what giant balls of ice did in Florida as hail pounded cars and homes
What should you do when there is hail?
Remember, hail comes with thunderstorms, and the best thing to do during storms is to stay indoors. If you’re driving, you might want to get off the road, depending on the storm’s intensity.
And since the forecast will tell you if there’s a chance for hail, it’s a good idea to put your car into the garage (if you have one) and bring your pets indoors ahead of the storm.
Why don’t we see more hail in South Florida?
Hail is a common hazard during thunderstorms. However, while Florida is the state with the most thunderstorms, we don’t see a lot of hail compared to other parts of the country like Colorado and Wyoming, according to NOAA.
That’s because the “freezing level” during Florida’s thunderstorms is so high, most hail melts before it reaches the surface, forecasters say. The freezing level of an area, by the way, also changes daily and can be higher or lower, depending on the atmosphere, the weather service said.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 11:59 AM.
