hailstorms
Pelting frozen downpours
Hailstorms are storms that produce hail—pellets of ice that form when updrafts carry raindrops into freezing upper atmosphere, where they accumulate layers before falling.
Hailstorms can devastate crops, dent cars, and shatter windows.
Figuratively, a hailstorm describes any intense barrage: a hailstorm of criticism, a hailstorm of bullets.
Funnel-prone geographic zone
- Great PlainsCentral North American grassland
- MidwestNorth-central American region
- ColoradoWestern rectangular state
- TexasSecond-largest American state
Oklahoma · Kansas · Nebraska · Australia · Bangladesh · India · Argentina · Alberta
Rotating severe thunderstorm
- cumulonimbusTowering storm-producing cloud
- updraftUpward air movement
- downdraftDescending air current
- convectionHeat transfer via motion
thunderstorm · precipitation · ice · frozen · atmospheric · severe · cold front · instability
Shallow impact marks
- shatteredBroken into fragments
- windshieldVehicle's front glass
- roofBuilding's protective top
- cropsCultivated plants for harvest
vehicles · destruction · insurance · claim · repair · bodywork · siding · greenhouse
tornado alley
Funnel-prone geographic zone
- Great PlainsCentral North American grassland
- MidwestNorth-central American region
- ColoradoWestern rectangular state
Texas · Oklahoma · Kansas · Nebraska · Australia · Bangladesh · India · Argentina · Alberta · monsoon
supercell
Rotating severe thunderstorm
- cumulonimbusTowering storm-producing cloud
- updraftUpward air movement
- downdraftDescending air current
convection · thunderstorm · precipitation · ice · frozen · atmospheric · severe · cold front · instability · moisture
dents
Shallow impact marks
- shatteredBroken into fragments
- windshieldVehicle's front glass
- roofBuilding's protective top
crops · vehicles · destruction · insurance · claim · repair · bodywork · siding · greenhouse · skylights
shelter
Protected place or structure
roar · pounding · terrifying · car · windshield · hiding · waiting · deafening · chaos · panic
pellets
Small compressed spheres
- diameterDistance across through center
- golf ballDimpled sphere for putting
- softballVariant with larger ball
accumulation · layers · milky · translucent · rings · impact · velocity · density · weight · stones
- climateclimate change, climate, weather, global warming, temperature
- crop problemsblight, drought damage, crop disease, root rot, wilting
- Great PlainsGreat Plains, high plains, High Plains, grassland, grasslands
- mesoscale weathersquall lines, supercells, derechos, microbursts, downbursts
- Texas PanhandleAmarillo, High Plains, flat terrain, cotton farming, cattle ranching
- weatherweather, rain, sun, snow, wind
hailstormsclear skies
Absence of cloud cover
fair weather · still air · sunny days · sunshine · blue skies