Thunderstorm Hail Hazards

Thunderstorm Hail Hazards

RISK LEVEL	HAZARD DESCRIPTION
Low	Chance of a damaging hail (>3/4 inch in diamter [penny size or larger]) is in the 5-15% range. Hail size is generally expected to be less than 3/4 inch in diameter (pea size).
Moderate	Chance of a damaging hail (>3/4 inch in diamter [penny size or larger]) is in the 15-25% range. Hail size is generally expected to be in the 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter range (penny to quarter size).
High	Chance of a damaging hail (>3/4 inch in diamter [penny size or larger]) is greater than 25%. Hail size is generally expected to be greater than 1 inch in diameter (half dollar size or larger).

The existing NWS WFO Newport/Morehead City Graphical Hazards have been discontinued due to technical issues. A new version of these hazards graphics is under development and will be implemented once it has passed an internal testing period. This will hopefully come in 2016, but we cannot estimate when at this time. We regret the inconvenience and hope you found the previous version of this webpage and graphics useful. We hope you will find the new version of this webpage just as useful when it comes online.

General Information

Hail is the result of rising currents of air within a storm called updrafts, which cary water droplets to a height where freezing occurs. Ice particles grow in size, until they become too heavy to be supported by the updraft, and fall to the ground.

Large hail causes $1 billion in damage to property and crops each year.

Hail can grow to sizes larger than grapefuit and fall to the ground at speeds faster than 100 mph.