Difference Between Hail and Snow

Hail vs Snow

Hail and snow can be both considered as frozen waters. Both are also types of precipitation. A number of reasons can explain why instead of rain, these frozen states of water fall down from the sky. But how do these two differ from each other.

Hail

Hail can be seen as precipitation in its solid state and is made up of irregular lumps of ice and balls. Individually, these lumps and balls are called hail stones. They are generally made up of water. They are normally produced by thunderclouds, thus most likely one can witness it on thunderstorms. Hail’s size can range from the size of a dime up to the size of a computer CD.

Snow

Snow is also defined as a precipitation type within the planet’s atmosphere. Snow is usually seen in the crystalline water form and is icy. It consisted of a lot of snowflakes falling from the clouds. It is described to be granular since it is made of small particles of ice. It is soft in texture. A variety of sports, specifically winter sports are done on snow.

Difference between Hail and Snow

Just because both hail and snow are the same, since they are both in water’s solid state, does not mean one be confused of these two. If hail is produced due to the presence of cumulonimbi, snow on the other hand is produced through the help of nimbostratus clouds. As mentioned above, hail has a wide variety of sizes. There are hail stones as small as the dime coin, but there are also hails as large as a CD tape while snow are tiny icy particles, in fact they are too thin and small, its texture is very smooth.

Both are cold in terms of temperature, thus people may like them. However, due to its size, people may prefer letting snow fall on their heads rather than hail.