hail

A hydrometeor consisting of an ice pellet, spherical in shape - the most common form - irregular or conical - less common -, whose diameter ranges between 5 and 50 mm, although exceptionally it can reach a larger caliber. With an internal layered distribution, similar in appearance to that of an onion, the ice making up each of those layers can be transparent, translucent, or opaque, depending on the amount of air it contains. The transparent ice layers correspond to phases of rapid growth of the hailstone within the storm cloud, while the opaque ones are the result of a slow process. In both cases, the hailstone grows through the accretion of ice resulting from the freezing of supercooled water droplets present inside the cumulonimbus where it forms. Hailstones can fall separately or forming clusters. It is quite common to compare them with everyday objects, such as chickpeas, olives, pigeon or hen eggs, golf balls, tennis balls...