Mondo Knows Facts

Hailstones grow in layers inside storms

Updrafts carry ice pellets up and down, adding a coat on each pass Strong thunderstorm updrafts keep ice particles aloft long enough to collect supercooled water, which freezes on contact. Each trip through a different part of the cloud adds a layer of clear or cloudy ice. Cutting a large hailstone in half reveals these concentric rings. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NOAA

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: weather, ice, storms

Hailstones grow in layers inside storms: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
Updrafts carry ice pellets up and down, adding a coat on each pass. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a science fact?
Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.