A Wonderleaf question
Why does hail fall from the sky?
a real page from the book
Hail falls when bits of ice inside a thundercloud become too heavy for rising storm winds to hold. Water freezes high in the cloud, gathers more icy coats, and finally gravity wins, sending the hailstone down to the ground.
A big hailstone has usually had more time being tossed around inside the cloud. If you could slice one open, you might see rings, a little like a tree trunk, each one showing another visit through wet, freezing air.
Wonder words
- updraft
- hailstone
- thundercloud
- gravity
Try it out
Drop different-size ice cubes into a bowl and listen for how weight changes the sound.
Read the whole picture book
Watercolour scenes, straight answers, about three minutes cover to cover.
Open the picture bookKeep wondering
- Why do mountains change the weather?
- Why is frost sparkly?
- Why is the sky sometimes gray?
- Why do clouds change shape?
- How do meteorologists predict the weather?
- Why does the air smell different after rain?
One more wonder: Why is space so dark?
And the next question?
Ask anything — Wonderleaf writes and illustrates a picture book for it. That's the whole idea.
Ask your own questionThe next wonder, by email
A new question goes up every Sunday evening. We email it to you Monday morning, free to read that week.
One wonder a week, nothing else, ever. Unsubscribe in one click.