Editing Hail (section)

=== Layer nature of the hailstones ===
[[File:hailshaft.jpg|thumb|left|Hail shaft]]
Like other precipitation in cumulonimbus clouds, hail begins as water droplets. As the droplets rise and the temperature goes below freezing, they become [[supercooled]] water and will freeze on contact with [[condensation nuclei]]. A cross-section through a large hailstone shows an onion-like structure. This means that the hailstone is made of thick and translucent layers, alternating with layers that are thin, white and opaque. Former theory suggested that hailstones were subjected to multiple descents and ascents, falling into a zone of humidity and refreezing as they were uplifted.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} This up and down motion was thought to be responsible for the successive layers of the hailstone. New research, based on theory as well as field study, has shown this is not necessarily true.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The storm's [[updraft]], with upwardly directed wind speeds as high as {{cvt|110|mph|km/h}},<ref name="ncar">{{cite web |url=http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/research/meteorology/storms/hail.php |title=Hail |year=2008 |access-date=2009-07-18 |website=ncar.ucar.edu |publisher=National Center for Atmospheric Research, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527170048/http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/research/meteorology/storms/hail.php |archive-date=2010-05-27}}</ref> blows the forming hailstones up the cloud. As the hailstone ascends, it passes into areas of the cloud where the concentration of humidity and supercooled water droplets varies. The hailstone's growth rate changes depending on the variation in humidity and supercooled water droplets that it encounters. The accretion rate of these water droplets is another factor in the hailstone's growth. When the hailstone moves into an area with a high concentration of water droplets, it captures the latter and acquires a translucent layer. Should the hailstone move into an area where mostly water vapor is available, it acquires a layer of opaque white ice.<ref name=Nelson/>
[[File:Hail clouds.jpg|thumb|Severe thunderstorms containing hail can exhibit a characteristic green coloration<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology |page=1754 |first=Frank W. III |last=Gallagher |title=Distant Green Thunderstorms – Frazer's Theory Revisited |volume=39 |date=October 2000 |publisher=American Meteorological Society |doi=10.1175/1520-0450-39.10.1754 |issue=10 |bibcode = 2000JApMe..39.1754G |doi-access=free}}</ref>]]
Furthermore, the hailstone's speed depends on its position in the cloud's updraft and its mass. This determines the varying thicknesses of the layers of the hailstone. The accretion rate of supercooled water droplets onto the hailstone depends on the relative velocities between these water droplets and the hailstone itself. This means that generally the larger hailstones will form some distance from the stronger updraft, where they can pass more time growing.<ref name=Nelson/> As the hailstone grows, it releases [[latent heat]], which keeps its exterior in a liquid phase. Because it undergoes "wet growth", the outer layer is ''sticky'' (i.e. more adhesive), so a single hailstone may grow by collision with other smaller hailstones, forming a larger entity with an irregular shape.<ref name="Brimlow">{{cite journal |title=Modeling Maximum Hail Size in Alberta Thunderstorms |journal=Weather and Forecasting |first1=Julian C. |last1=Brimelow |first2=Gerhard W. |last2=Reuter |first3=Eugene R. |last3=Poolman |pages=1048–1062 |volume=17 |issue=5 |doi=10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<1048:MMHSIA>2.0.CO;2 |issn=1520-0434 |bibcode=2002WtFor..17.1048B |year=2002 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Hail can also undergo "dry growth", in which the latent heat release through freezing is not enough to keep the outer layer in a liquid state. Hail forming in this manner appears [[Opacity (optics)|opaque]] due to small air bubbles that become trapped in the stone during rapid freezing. These bubbles coalesce and escape during the "wet growth" mode, and the hailstone is more clear. The mode of growth for a hailstone can change throughout its development, and this can result in distinct layers in a hailstone's cross-section.<ref name=rauber>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_8YLgEACAAJ&q=severe+%26+hazardous+weather |title=Severe & Hazardous Weather |isbn=978-0-7575-9772-5 |last1=Rauber |first1=Robert M. |last2=Walsh |first2=John E. |last3=Charlevoix |first3=Donna Jean |year=2012|publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company }}</ref>

The hailstone will keep rising in the thunderstorm until its mass can no longer be supported by the updraft. This may take at least 30&nbsp;minutes, based on the force of the updrafts in the hail-producing thunderstorm, whose top is usually greater than 10&nbsp;km high. It then falls toward the ground while continuing to grow, based on the same processes, until it leaves the cloud. It will later begin to melt as it passes into air above freezing temperature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucar.edu/communications/factsheets/Hail.html |title=Hail Fact Sheet |date=2000-04-10 |first=Jacque |last=Marshall |access-date=2009-07-15 |publisher=University Corporation for Atmospheric Research  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015141754/http://www.ucar.edu/communications/factsheets/Hail.html |archive-date=2009-10-15}}</ref>
[[File:Thakurgaon Hailstorm.webm|thumb|Heavy hailstorm at [[Thakurgaon District|Thakurgaon]], Northern Bangladesh (April 2022)]]
Thus, a unique trajectory in the thunderstorm is sufficient to explain the layer-like structure of the hailstone. The only case in which multiple trajectories can be discussed is in a multicellular thunderstorm, where the hailstone may be ejected from the top of the "mother" cell and captured in the updraft of a more intense "daughter" cell. This, however, is an exceptional case.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite journal |title=The Influence of Storm Flow Struce on Hail Growth |journal=Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences |first= Stephan P. |last=Nelson |date=August 1983 |pages=1965–1983 |volume=40 |number=8 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1983)040<1965:TIOSFS>2.0.CO;2 |issn=1520-0469 |bibcode=1983JAtS...40.1965N |doi-access=free}}</ref>