Hail is ice, not salt.
Here's a breakdown of what hail is composed of:
Hailstones are precipitation in the form of irregular lumps of ice. They are produced by cumulonimbus clouds, specifically during strong thunderstorms.
- Composition: Hailstones are made up of layers of ice. These layers can be transparent ice, translucent ice, or a combination of both.
- Formation: Hail forms when supercooled water droplets freeze onto ice nuclei (small particles suspended in the air) within a thunderstorm. These ice particles are then carried up and down within the storm cloud by strong updrafts. As the ice particles move through different areas of the cloud, they accumulate more layers of ice.
- Size: Hailstones must be at least 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter to be considered hail. Smaller ice pellets are called ice pellets or sleet.
In summary, hail is a form of frozen precipitation composed of ice, formed within thunderstorms. It is not made of salt.
