The Summer Ice Riddle
It’s a blistering 90-degree day, the sun is shining, and suddenly—THUD! Frozen chunks of ice start falling from the sky. How is it possible for the atmosphere to make ice when the ground is hot enough to melt an ice cream cone? The answer lies in the extreme 'sky-scrapers' of the atmosphere: Cumulonimbus clouds.
The Updraft Elevator
Hail begins as a simple raindrop. In a powerful thunderstorm, the air near the ground is so hot that it rushes upward with incredible speed. This is called an updraft. These winds are so strong they act like an invisible elevator, catching raindrops and hurling them five miles high into the freezing part of the atmosphere.
Freezing on High
Way up in the 'attic' of the storm cloud, the temperature is always far below freezing. The raindrop turns into a tiny pellet of ice. But the journey isn't over. Gravity eventually pulls the ice pellet back down, where it gets coated in a fresh layer of liquid water. Then, a new gust of wind catches it and shoots it back up to freeze again.