When they grow too heavy, they plummet to the ground.
In addition to contesting widespread notions about hail formation, the study could help improve forecasts of severe weather.
The analysis revealed that most followed relatively simple paths.
New research challenges long-held notions about the formation of hailstones.© James St. John, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ten hailstones grew while descending, 13 were elevated by upwinds only once, and three moved mostly horizontally.
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