Dear Tom,
We live near San Antonio and just heard a report of teacup-size hail. How big is that?
-Ann and Chuck Keeling
Dear Ann and Chuck,
Severe weather season always brings a rash of hail reports along with a load of descriptive
size adjectives. Most hail identifiers can be associated with a specific diameter, like pea
size (one-fourth of an inch) or golf-ball size (1 3⁄ 4 inches), giving an accurate mental
image of the hailstone. Other terms such as teacup, hen egg and grapefruit, items which
can vary in size, are less easily visualized. Most hail charts list teacup hail at about 3
inches in diameter. Other effective size-related terms in common use include penny (
three fourths of an inch), quarter (1 inch), baseball (2 3⁄ 4 inches), tennis ball (2 1⁄ 2 inches)
and softball (4 1⁄ 2 inches).
