Yet another weather wickedness...

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that as long as I live
in the UK, I'll never come to terms with the variability
of the weather especially where it affects my cycling.
I've learned to deal with head/cross winds, I've learnt
to wear the right clothing to deal with cold, and I even
have developed some sort of tolerance for rain (even though
it obscures my vision). But I can't deal with the latest
weapon that the UK weather has hurled at me from its
arsenal...

HAIL.

It's not as if I haven't experienced a shower of hailstones
before, but it was only yesterday I had direct experience of
being caught on one while riding. A Very Unpleasant and
Painful Experience to say the least, and sadly not one I
think anyone can do much about except head for the nearest
shelter and hide.

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring? How
come this never happened in winter when temperatures were
closer to zero?

--
Akin

aknak at aksoto dot idps dot co dot uk

"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...
I'm fast coming to the conclusion that as long as I live

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring? How
come this never happened in winter when temperatures were
closer to zero?

It depends on the temperature several 1000 feet up and since the vernal
equinox was only 4 days ago, it's not likely to have warmed up much since
winter officially ended. I got stung in February cycling into a north wind
with hail - as long as you wear safety specs it's not too bad.

"Hail is formed by updrafts in cumulonimbus clouds. These updrafts
circulate frozen raindrops or graupel up into regions of super-cooled
droplets. Each time the hailstone circulates through the cloud, it gains
another layer of ice by accreting these droplets. This continues until the
hailstone is so large that the updrafts can no longer support it, and it
falls to the earth."
--
Simon Mason
Anlaby
East Yorkshire.
53°44'N 0°26'W
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...

HAIL.

It's not as if I haven't experienced a shower of hailstones
before, but it was only yesterday I had direct experience of
being caught on one while riding. A Very Unpleasant and
Painful Experience to say the least, and sadly not one I
think anyone can do much about except head for the nearest
shelter and hide.


just be grateful they were good old British hailstones

http://www.chaseday.com/hailstones.htm

pk

HAIL.

Yup - hail can *sting*. It's always useful to be wearing some sort of eye wear
- in good weather it keeps insects at bay. In any weather it keeps the grit
thrown up by passing vehicles at bay and in bad weather it keeps the rain &
hail out of the eyes.

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring?

The hail is formed thousands of feet up - and the temp up there is cold.

Cheers, helen s




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"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...

..
HAIL.

It's not as if I haven't experienced a shower of hailstones
before, but it was only yesterday I had direct experience of
being caught on one while riding. A Very Unpleasant and
Painful Experience to say the least, and sadly not one I
think anyone can do much about except head for the nearest
shelter and hide.

It's usually possible to angle your head so the stones don't hit you directly in
the face.

PK wrote:
"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...

HAIL.

It's not as if I haven't experienced a shower of hailstones
before, but it was only yesterday I had direct experience of
being caught on one while riding. A Very Unpleasant and
Painful Experience to say the least, and sadly not one I
think anyone can do much about except head for the nearest
shelter and hide.


just be grateful they were good old British hailstones

http://www.chaseday.com/hailstones.htm

pk

Two Hail related ancedotes.

A bloke I knew, a real character, was really proud of his old Lada. One year
he went on a holiday to Brittany with it. It suffered a bad hail storm and
came back covered in dimples like a golf ball.

I saw the biggest hail stones of my life on December 24th in Melbourne,
Australia, they were about 1/2" in diameter. The locals hadn't seen hail
anywhere near as large as that before and were taking photos of them

"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring? How
come this never happened in winter when temperatures were
closer to zero?

Most memorable/painful hail while commuting in Yorkshire was in July.

I've seen the mess a proper hailstorm can do in Austrian mountains, again
July/August.

cheers,
clive

Sky Fly wrote:

It's not as if I haven't experienced a shower of hailstones
before, but it was only yesterday I had direct experience of
being caught on one while riding. A Very Unpleasant and
Painful Experience to say the least, and sadly not one I
think anyone can do much about except head for the nearest
shelter and hide.


The UK variety are quite small and benign compared to more southerly
countries. Its rare but I'd rather be riding in UK hail than European or
North American

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring? How
come this never happened in winter when temperatures were
closer to zero?

It needs the sun heating to drive the circulation in the cloud that forms the
hailstone and a temperature where liquid water from the cloud can accrete on
the outside of the hailstone as it circulates between the warmer bottom and
colder top of the cloud. If its too cold that won't happen. Hailstorms are
commonest in spring and summer and least common in winter

Tony

"Sky Fly" wrote in message
...

Out of curiosity, how is it that we're only experiencing
hail (which is essentially ice and therefore should be
formed in temperatures close to zero) in spring? How
come this never happened in winter when temperatures were
closer to zero?

Ahh. The old presumption that weather should be logical. Remember the
words of a wise man (Bob Hope, I believe) -- the English can have all four
seasons in one day.

Or Guy of this parish who characterised the seasons something along the
lines of Warm wet, Cold wet, Very cold wet and July 12th (though the date of
this season can vary)

T

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...

HAIL.

Yup - hail can *sting*. It's always useful to be wearing some sort
of eye wear

If you are talking about special cyclist eyewear Helen, I'm afraid
this isn't an option for me because I'm quite short sighted and
*need* to have my glasses on pretty much all the time. (Contacts
aren't an option either.)

- in good weather it keeps insects at bay.

I would have thought that "good weather" and "hail" are mutually
exclusive.

Penny drops

Oh, you're talking about the *eye wear*, not the hail. I was
beginning to wonder how hail could protect you from grit, etc.