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Hail In December?

I was surfing the next this evening when I heard an unusual sound. Outside a fast-moving storm was developing, dropping some heavy rain before vanishing minutes later. It wasn’t a minute or two later that Kelly came home. Not only was it raining, she said, but it was hailing, too. I walked outside to find pea-sized hail on the front porch.

Hail in December from a stealthy storm. Quite unusual.

[Update]: The NWS has set me straight. It was sleet (which I find almost as hard to believe, considering its suddenness):

A BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH ACROSS THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN AND NORTH EAST PIEDMONT OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE AIR IS COOL ENOUGH ALOFT THAT WHERE THE ISOLATED HEAVIER RAIN SHOWERS OCCUR…A LITTLE SLEET WILL BE MIXED IN WITH THE RAIN. THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF SLEET IN NORTHERN WAKE COUNTY. THE RAIN WILL END IN THE RALEIGH BY 1030 PM…AND AROUND WILSON…NASHVILLE AND ROCKY MOUNT BY 12 MIDNIGHT.

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  1. I wasn’t surfing the “next”, but I heard this too! It sounded different than just heavy rain, so I figured it might be hail.

    who’s your NEXT provider, btw? 😉

  2. Nextel. I was surfing my NEXTel. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

  4. Now I don’t feel so stupid. It sure looked like hail to me, but it hit just completely out of nowhere. No thunder or anything.

    Very bizarre!

  5. There’s no need for thunder. There’s not always thunder when it rains, eh? That’s all sleet is: frozen rain. It’s just rain that froze in the air (as opposed to rain that freezes on the ground, which confusingly is called “frozen rain”). Also, the temperature in the upper atmosphere can be quite cold, even if it is warmer on the ground.

  6. When hail is present, thunder is usually also present as hail is associated with very strong, towering storms. If it was hail, there would normally be thunder, too. On the other hand, rain in the winter would not have to travel as high to become hail oweing to the cooler atmospheric temperature.

    Interesting how the NWS is still calling it sleet. Whom do you trust: Mike Maze or the NWS?

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