Have You Ever Been Hit By Hail? Are You Sure It Wasn't Just Graupel?
KPIX 5 Morning Weather Anchor Roberta Gonzales answers the questions you never get to ask on-air.
Q: Roberta, What is the difference between hail, and"grauple?" Rich Meyers; Belmont
A: GREAT question!
If you look at the video below, many people in Southern California wondered out loud, "is it hailing or is this sleet or graupel."
Let's begin with:
Hail: It falls from the sky as pellets of ice. The size can range from "pea-sized" to what I have seen in Chicago, "baseball or grapefruit sized" hail. Hail can cause huge damage to crops.
Sleet: It falls from the sky as rain, but freezes before it hits the ground. It can be a combination of rain and snow mix! Sleet causes muddy messes.
Graupel: Also referred to as soft hail, snow pellets or ice balls. In a nutshell, it is a snowflake which has been coated by ice crystals. That process is called: rime coating. Because of the texture of the ice crystals, you can touch a graupel pellet and it will fall apart. If you touch hail, it is very hard. Graupel can range in size from "pea sized" to the "size of a quarter."
Look at the video and tell me what you see. Is it hail, sleet or graupel on the shores of Huntington Beach?
No matter what it is, it sure is cool.
Do you have a question, comment or picture you would like to share with me? Email Gonzales@kpix.cbs.com and I look forward to hearing from you!
