Large hail reported in Kansas City area from severe storms

Severe storms produced giant hail as they moved through Kansas City last night, dropping quarter to baseball-sized hailstones for several hours.

The first storms in the early evening generated the largest hail, measuring between 2 to 4 inches in diameter, as these cells had very high levels of atmospheric instability for fuel. High energy in the atmosphere means stronger updrafts, which can produce larger hailstones.

Hail forms when strong columns of rising air, known as updrafts, lift rain droplets into cold air high in the atmosphere. These droplets freeze and turn into hailstones.

Hailstones grow larger the longer they stay in a storm, as long as the updraft is strong enough to keep them aloft. They also increase in size when they bump into each other, which is why some large hail has a spiky or misshapen appearance.

When the updraft weakens or the hail becomes too large, it falls to the ground and can cause damage and injury.

Storms continue to produce quarter-sized hail through the early overnight hours in Kansas City, and hail sizes gradually decreased as atmospheric energy waned overnight.