Vallarta-Nayarit Summer Hailstorm: The Third in 20 Years Team Angels/Fernando Alvarez - Vallarta Opina
go to original July 27, 2014

Although there is evidence that state that there was slush in the region over the past 30 years, the reality is that in two decades there have been three hailstorms.

The first hail recorded in these two recent decades occurred in the colony of Ixtapa, Jalisco, in the late nineties, which reached a high level that surprised the inhabitants of the area.

The second hailstorm was in the early 2000's and although it was less dense than that reported in Ixtapa, it did cover the streets and grounds for several minutes.

The third was the hailstorm on Wednesday night, which was accompanied by a thunderstorm and heavy rain that lasted more than two hours as was confirmed by authorities of the Municipal Civil Protection Unit.

It should be noted that hail is a type of solid precipitation which consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hailstone.

Unlike graupel (which is formed by frost and hail, which are smaller and translucent and sometimes called snow pellets), hail is formed mainly of water ice and its size can vary between 5 and 50 millimeters (0.19 to 1.968 inches) in diameter, and even exceed that measure.

Hail formation originates with the presence of a solid particle. This is driven by strong updrafts within the cloud attaching water particles. When ascending, the cooling and freezing occurs. Upon reaching the top of the cloud, hail falls to earth by its own weight.

Translated and edited by Team Angels