3 ms·

Wind driven hail traveling nearly sideways is common unfortunately. I'm not sure what angle of protection would be the best compromise, but I do know a copy abo

Wind driven hail traveling nearly sideways is common unfortunately. I'm not sure what angle of protection would be the best compromise, but I do know a copy above would not afford 100% protection.

clarry 7y ago
Hmm, I don't think I have experience with such hail. In my experience, the bigger they are and the harder they hit, the more vertical their trajectory. But my area isn't particularly prone to hailstorms.
- lllr_finger 7y ago
  Allow me to nerd out a little, since my other love besides development is severe weather. The forward flank downdraft or rear inflow jet of a linear convective system/bow echo can see winds of 50mph+ rather commonly. The more interesting part IMO, is the rear flank downdraft, because it is closely related to tornadogenesis and can also have winds up to 100mph. The RFD is co-located with the hail core in a supercell, so some hail will get caught up in this wind that exists even when there isn't a tornado. Now terminal velocity of your average baseball-sized hail is roughly 100mph, but you can imagine with 100mph horizontal winds that there can be a strong non-vertical component to the hail in certain portions of the storm. I've personally been hit by smaller 1-2" hail that is traveling nearly horizontal, and I've seen evidence of larger hail impacting at the same angle. It's a safe assumption that the larger the hail is the more damaging it is, but not all hail is created equal! Depending on how accretion happens and the warmth of the atmosphere, you can have very hard 1" hail that damages cars, and very soft 2.5" hail that doesn't damage cars. My personal rule of thumb is that you need to be wary of anything 1.75"/golf ball or larger.
- AaronM 7y ago
  Having lived in tornado alley, I've seen softball sized hail completely punch through a residential roof (shingles, and plywood) and then punch through the sheetrock in the ceiling.

Wind driven hail traveling nearly sideways is common unfortunately. I'm not sure what angle of protection would be the best compromise, but I do know a copy above would not afford 100% protection.

clarry 7y ago

Hmm, I don't think I have experience with such hail. In my experience, the bigger they are and the harder they hit, the more vertical their trajectory. But my area isn't particularly prone to hailstorms.

lllr_finger 7y ago
Allow me to nerd out a little, since my other love besides development is severe weather. The forward flank downdraft or rear inflow jet of a linear convective system/bow echo can see winds of 50mph+ rather commonly. The more interesting part IMO, is the rear flank downdraft, because it is closely related to tornadogenesis and can also have winds up to 100mph. The RFD is co-located with the hail core in a supercell, so some hail will get caught up in this wind that exists even when there isn't a tornado. Now terminal velocity of your average baseball-sized hail is roughly 100mph, but you can imagine with 100mph horizontal winds that there can be a strong non-vertical component to the hail in certain portions of the storm. I've personally been hit by smaller 1-2" hail that is traveling nearly horizontal, and I've seen evidence of larger hail impacting at the same angle. It's a safe assumption that the larger the hail is the more damaging it is, but not all hail is created equal! Depending on how accretion happens and the warmth of the atmosphere, you can have very hard 1" hail that damages cars, and very soft 2.5" hail that doesn't damage cars. My personal rule of thumb is that you need to be wary of anything 1.75"/golf ball or larger.
AaronM 7y ago
Having lived in tornado alley, I've seen softball sized hail completely punch through a residential roof (shingles, and plywood) and then punch through the sheetrock in the ceiling.