Identification

Title

How are large hailstones produced in five distinct potential severe hailstorm environments?

Abstract

The thermodynamic and kinematic environments favoring the growth of large hailstones (diameter ≥ 19 mm) may be classified into five distinct types. In this study, we present a simple semi-three-dimensional hailstone growth trajectory model and explore the respective microphysical mechanisms of large-hailstone production (LHP) under these five types of environments. Type 1 environment is characterized by the strongest updraft and adequate cloud water supply in tropical plains. This type has the highest growth rates for embryos and surpasses the greatest melting loss among all five types of environments. Type 2 over tropical hills has a deeper updraft with greater growth at high altitudes. Type 3 over midlatitude plains is characterized by a relatively thick growth zone and the second-highest growth rate. Type 4 over high-latitude plains has a high mass growth during ascent but a medium descent growth rate on average. Over elevated terrains, type 5 has the shallowest melting zone and the lowest melting rate, allowing hailstones to reach the surface with the least mass loss. The responses of hailstone growth to initial hailstone embryo heights are type dependent but are insensitive to initial hailstone radii. A longer ascent (descent) growth duration leads to a greater mass increment and a higher potential for low (high)-level-seeded embryos to grow into large hailstones. Sensitivity tests show that kinematic conditions measured by wind shear are important in all types. Strong wind shear serves as a preferable environment for hailstone growth across five types by extending the growth duration.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7p273m0

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2025-07-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

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name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact