Hailstorm is a storm of frozen rain. The size of the pellets varies depending on various factors. They may cause physical injury depending on the size of the frozen rain. In India, Hailstorms are common in northern regions especially uttarkhand, uttarpradesh , Himachal Pradesh and other states across Himalayas.
Causes
Hail consists of large ice particles that have a layered structure, and are produced by intense thunderstorms that form in a very unstable air mass, that is, one that was relatively cool dry air overlying very warm and humid air. The unstable air is necessary to produce large updraft speeds -- fast enough to keep a developing hailstone from falling to the ground. Some of these updrafts can reach 60 mph or more. Small ice particles that form above the freezing level in the thunderstorm collect rain water on them, forming a water shell that slowly freezes. If these growing hailstones fall into another updraft, they can continue to grow, until they finally become too large for the updraft to carry them, or they get caught up in a downdraft, and they finally reach the ground.
* Hail is formed on condensation nuclei such as dust, insects, or ice crystals, when super cooled water freezes on contact.
* Hail is made up of frozen raindrops - solid chunks of ice more than 5 mm in diameter It forms when raindrops are tossed high up by winds inside cumulunimbus cloud. They freeze into ice and are continually bounced up and down inside the cloud. As they rise and fall like this, more ice builds up in layers around them.
* Winds hold the rain and freeze it. As the process repeats, the hail grows increasingly larger. Once hailstone becomes too heavy to be supported by the storm's updraft, it falls out of the cloud.
Conditions for hail formation:
* Hail forms in strong thunderstorm clouds, particularly those with intense updrafts, high liquid water content, freat vertical extent, large water droplets, and where a good portion of the cloud layer is belowing freezing ( 0°C or 32°F)
* Hail is also much mo9re common along mountain ranges because mountains force horizontal winds upwards (known as orographic lifting), thereby intensifying the updrafts within thunderstorms and making hail more likely
Problem
Effect of hailstorms
Hailstorms are responsible for some of the most severe damage insurance pay outs in Australia. Obviously the larger the hail, the more damage inflicted. But the damage does not increase marginally with increases in hail size. In other words, if hail doubles in diameter, the damage created is much more severe. Hail with a diameter of 2cm or greater is sufficient to cause damage. It is considered as the cutoff point by the Bureau of Meteorology for severe hail.
Depending on size, hail can cause a variety of damage. The most common damage in terms of insurance claims is damage to houses and vehicles. Hail pounding onto vehicles dents the body panels. The larger the hail, the deeper the dents. Side panels may also be damaged with rebounding from the ground onto the side of the vehicle. Effects of hail damaged cars with dented panels can sometimes be seen for weeks or even months after a hailstorm. In previous years, car dealers sold hail damaged cars at reduced prices. However, there seems to be a tendency to use flexible shade materials (normally used for preventing damage to fruit in orchards) to prevent hail from damaging cars in car yards since the March 18 1990 hailstorm in Sydney.
Damage to houses is very much dependent on hail size and wind strength. Hail of around 2cm causes minimal damages to houses. With strong winds, windows may break. Damage associated with larger hail consisting of diameters 5cm or greater includes broken windows as well as roof tiles. Larger hail with strong winds are devastating. Roof tiles are completely destroyed typically on side of tilted tiled roofs. Water may enter and therefore damage occurs inside the house. With strong winds, windows facing the strong winds will be shattered by large hail. The most visible sign of particularly severe hailstorm consisting of large hail driven by strong winds in residential areas are tarpaulins covering roofs with shattered tiles. These are used to prevent leaks and further damage from future rain until the damage is repaired.
In rural districts, hail is the most feared of all weather phenomena. Even hail of small diameters with strong winds are sufficient to damage crops. Small hail with strong winds can pierce crops such as lettuce and cabbage. Such crops will be worthless. Larger hail can also damage crops even with lighter winds. Strong winds and large hail will totally destroy crops as well as injure or kill livestock. Because of the effects of decaying crops or carcasses, farmers remove them within a few days which in effect removes the evidence of hail.
In some rural and most residential areas there are trees. Trees give some of the best indications of large hail affecting a region within the previous few weeks. Unusually large amounts of stripped leaves after a storm underneath or near the tree is normally a sign of large hail especially where one area is affected and an area nearby is untouched. With high winds, large hail can also debark the trees on one side obviously facing the wind. This effect was observed in a severe thunderstorm that effected Singleton north of Sydney on the 11th December 1996.
Handling a hailstorm
A surprise hail storm can cause millions of dollars in damage to cars, crops, nature, homes, and businesses. A surprise hail storm can also cause quite a bit of damage to people. Hail storms usually happen unexpectedly, and there is nothing you can do to stop them from wreaking havoc on your day and possibly your life.
The best thing you can do is be prepared. An umbrella brought along in case it rains is not going to help you. But, at the risk of having this sound like a commercial, you must always be prepared in life. Therefore, make certain you have insurance for your car, your home and your business so that the insurance company can pay for major damages caused by a surprise hail storm.
After obtaining health, vehicle, and home insurance, you can then properly assess your situation when a surprise hail storm hits. Many times hail storms will accompany a spring or fall weather event such as rain due to the fluctuating temperatures, although, there are occasions when hail suddenly plummets from the sky sending small hailstones or possibly large baseball sized hail to the ground, during summer weather events also.
The best way to deal with a surprise hail storm is to get out of harm's way. Run to an enclosure such as a home, a car, or the even a covered porch. When you are caught outside, such as at a park or a beach, run to the nearest outside building. When there aren't any nearby buildings, you can use anything flat as a protective cover such as a beach towel, a cooler lid, even a book is better than allowing powerful hail to whack away at your body.
Stay inside a house, building, store, or your vehicle when a surprise hail storm suddenly erupts. The powerful stings of cold ice balls pelting away on your head and body are not worth taking the risk of running outside, especially when you have small children with you. Stay safe, by staying inside.
Driving during a surprise hail storm, be prepared to have your vehicle pummeled with powerful, damaging balls of ice. If you can, pull over to the side of the road, waiting out the surprise hail storm. Often times, hail storms end within just a few minutes after beginning. While driving during a hailstorm, use the wiper blades to usher the ice balls off of your windshield. Run the defrost on high to melt away the pounding hail. Remember to drive safely during a surprise hail storm; in other words, drive slowly, looking behind and in front of your vehicle and being aware of other traffic. Traffic may suddenly come to a screeching halt, and you do not want to compound the situation by getting into an accident.
When a surprise hail storm strikes, get under the nearest enclosure, but do not run under a tree, because a tree can be struck by lighting thus conducting the lightning to your body. Many times, lightning, rain and sudden high winds also accompany a surprise hail storm. Therefore, your best bet is to get under an enclosure, an awning, even a roof that is sticking farther out from the building can help keep you safe.
Mitigation Plans
Hailstorms are expected only during certain seasons like February, March, September and October. So we must inform are provide awareness to people about how to get shelter from Hailstorm when they are outdoors. Warnings can be issued via televisions if it is forecasted by the weather department. It is necessary to have people, buildings and other things like vehicles protected from the damage caused by hailstorm. We can have them covered.
Short-term goals
Establish centers to provide temporary accommodation for houseless people. These centers may be schools, temples in the locality. Shelters must be provided for emergency vehicles like ambulance, fire service vehicles etc People must be alerted about the forecasts through media like radio and television. Alerts can be given through SMS for outdoor workers who may not have access to the televisions or radio.
Long term goals
People must be educated about the disaster. People must gain knowledge through which they can protect themselves from the hailstorm. They must protect not only themselves but also their house, property and their people. The buildings in hailstorm prone areas must be designed in such a way that withstand hailstorm. Proper parking areas must be provided, roofs must be strong enough to withstand the force of hailstorm.
Sources:
http://australiasevereweather.com
http://www.helium.com/items/2271822-how-to-deal-with-a-surprise-hail-storm
Causes
Hail consists of large ice particles that have a layered structure, and are produced by intense thunderstorms that form in a very unstable air mass, that is, one that was relatively cool dry air overlying very warm and humid air. The unstable air is necessary to produce large updraft speeds -- fast enough to keep a developing hailstone from falling to the ground. Some of these updrafts can reach 60 mph or more. Small ice particles that form above the freezing level in the thunderstorm collect rain water on them, forming a water shell that slowly freezes. If these growing hailstones fall into another updraft, they can continue to grow, until they finally become too large for the updraft to carry them, or they get caught up in a downdraft, and they finally reach the ground.
* Hail is formed on condensation nuclei such as dust, insects, or ice crystals, when super cooled water freezes on contact.
* Hail is made up of frozen raindrops - solid chunks of ice more than 5 mm in diameter It forms when raindrops are tossed high up by winds inside cumulunimbus cloud. They freeze into ice and are continually bounced up and down inside the cloud. As they rise and fall like this, more ice builds up in layers around them.
* Winds hold the rain and freeze it. As the process repeats, the hail grows increasingly larger. Once hailstone becomes too heavy to be supported by the storm's updraft, it falls out of the cloud.
Conditions for hail formation:
* Hail forms in strong thunderstorm clouds, particularly those with intense updrafts, high liquid water content, freat vertical extent, large water droplets, and where a good portion of the cloud layer is belowing freezing ( 0°C or 32°F)
* Hail is also much mo9re common along mountain ranges because mountains force horizontal winds upwards (known as orographic lifting), thereby intensifying the updrafts within thunderstorms and making hail more likely
Problem
Effect of hailstorms
Hailstorms are responsible for some of the most severe damage insurance pay outs in Australia. Obviously the larger the hail, the more damage inflicted. But the damage does not increase marginally with increases in hail size. In other words, if hail doubles in diameter, the damage created is much more severe. Hail with a diameter of 2cm or greater is sufficient to cause damage. It is considered as the cutoff point by the Bureau of Meteorology for severe hail.
Depending on size, hail can cause a variety of damage. The most common damage in terms of insurance claims is damage to houses and vehicles. Hail pounding onto vehicles dents the body panels. The larger the hail, the deeper the dents. Side panels may also be damaged with rebounding from the ground onto the side of the vehicle. Effects of hail damaged cars with dented panels can sometimes be seen for weeks or even months after a hailstorm. In previous years, car dealers sold hail damaged cars at reduced prices. However, there seems to be a tendency to use flexible shade materials (normally used for preventing damage to fruit in orchards) to prevent hail from damaging cars in car yards since the March 18 1990 hailstorm in Sydney.
Damage to houses is very much dependent on hail size and wind strength. Hail of around 2cm causes minimal damages to houses. With strong winds, windows may break. Damage associated with larger hail consisting of diameters 5cm or greater includes broken windows as well as roof tiles. Larger hail with strong winds are devastating. Roof tiles are completely destroyed typically on side of tilted tiled roofs. Water may enter and therefore damage occurs inside the house. With strong winds, windows facing the strong winds will be shattered by large hail. The most visible sign of particularly severe hailstorm consisting of large hail driven by strong winds in residential areas are tarpaulins covering roofs with shattered tiles. These are used to prevent leaks and further damage from future rain until the damage is repaired.
In rural districts, hail is the most feared of all weather phenomena. Even hail of small diameters with strong winds are sufficient to damage crops. Small hail with strong winds can pierce crops such as lettuce and cabbage. Such crops will be worthless. Larger hail can also damage crops even with lighter winds. Strong winds and large hail will totally destroy crops as well as injure or kill livestock. Because of the effects of decaying crops or carcasses, farmers remove them within a few days which in effect removes the evidence of hail.
In some rural and most residential areas there are trees. Trees give some of the best indications of large hail affecting a region within the previous few weeks. Unusually large amounts of stripped leaves after a storm underneath or near the tree is normally a sign of large hail especially where one area is affected and an area nearby is untouched. With high winds, large hail can also debark the trees on one side obviously facing the wind. This effect was observed in a severe thunderstorm that effected Singleton north of Sydney on the 11th December 1996.
Handling a hailstorm
A surprise hail storm can cause millions of dollars in damage to cars, crops, nature, homes, and businesses. A surprise hail storm can also cause quite a bit of damage to people. Hail storms usually happen unexpectedly, and there is nothing you can do to stop them from wreaking havoc on your day and possibly your life.
The best thing you can do is be prepared. An umbrella brought along in case it rains is not going to help you. But, at the risk of having this sound like a commercial, you must always be prepared in life. Therefore, make certain you have insurance for your car, your home and your business so that the insurance company can pay for major damages caused by a surprise hail storm.
After obtaining health, vehicle, and home insurance, you can then properly assess your situation when a surprise hail storm hits. Many times hail storms will accompany a spring or fall weather event such as rain due to the fluctuating temperatures, although, there are occasions when hail suddenly plummets from the sky sending small hailstones or possibly large baseball sized hail to the ground, during summer weather events also.
The best way to deal with a surprise hail storm is to get out of harm's way. Run to an enclosure such as a home, a car, or the even a covered porch. When you are caught outside, such as at a park or a beach, run to the nearest outside building. When there aren't any nearby buildings, you can use anything flat as a protective cover such as a beach towel, a cooler lid, even a book is better than allowing powerful hail to whack away at your body.
Stay inside a house, building, store, or your vehicle when a surprise hail storm suddenly erupts. The powerful stings of cold ice balls pelting away on your head and body are not worth taking the risk of running outside, especially when you have small children with you. Stay safe, by staying inside.
Driving during a surprise hail storm, be prepared to have your vehicle pummeled with powerful, damaging balls of ice. If you can, pull over to the side of the road, waiting out the surprise hail storm. Often times, hail storms end within just a few minutes after beginning. While driving during a hailstorm, use the wiper blades to usher the ice balls off of your windshield. Run the defrost on high to melt away the pounding hail. Remember to drive safely during a surprise hail storm; in other words, drive slowly, looking behind and in front of your vehicle and being aware of other traffic. Traffic may suddenly come to a screeching halt, and you do not want to compound the situation by getting into an accident.
When a surprise hail storm strikes, get under the nearest enclosure, but do not run under a tree, because a tree can be struck by lighting thus conducting the lightning to your body. Many times, lightning, rain and sudden high winds also accompany a surprise hail storm. Therefore, your best bet is to get under an enclosure, an awning, even a roof that is sticking farther out from the building can help keep you safe.
Mitigation Plans
Hailstorms are expected only during certain seasons like February, March, September and October. So we must inform are provide awareness to people about how to get shelter from Hailstorm when they are outdoors. Warnings can be issued via televisions if it is forecasted by the weather department. It is necessary to have people, buildings and other things like vehicles protected from the damage caused by hailstorm. We can have them covered.
Short-term goals
Establish centers to provide temporary accommodation for houseless people. These centers may be schools, temples in the locality. Shelters must be provided for emergency vehicles like ambulance, fire service vehicles etc People must be alerted about the forecasts through media like radio and television. Alerts can be given through SMS for outdoor workers who may not have access to the televisions or radio.
Long term goals
People must be educated about the disaster. People must gain knowledge through which they can protect themselves from the hailstorm. They must protect not only themselves but also their house, property and their people. The buildings in hailstorm prone areas must be designed in such a way that withstand hailstorm. Proper parking areas must be provided, roofs must be strong enough to withstand the force of hailstorm.
Sources:
http://australiasevereweather.com
http://www.helium.com/items/2271822-how-to-deal-with-a-surprise-hail-storm
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