‘Teacup size’ hail pelted Maryland on Monday. Here’s how.

The responsible storm cell, shown in a radar snapshot below, was very large and intense. It developed over high terrain in Northern Virginia and quickly grew in size and strength as it tracked east, producing hail near Manassas,and Waldorf. By the time it reached Calvert County, it was really humming, after having triggered severe thunderstorm warnings. In Huntingtown, the hail was up to two inches across, bigger than golf balls.

Embedded in this storm was a core of exceptionally high-radar reflectivity values. Reflectivity refers to the amount of radar energy that has been backscattered by precipitation targets, including raindrops and hail stones. Values of 50 to 55 dBZ are typical of torrential rain; those as large as 70 dBZ almost always indicate the presence of large hail.The storm cell was a prolific hail producer, with stones of many sizes.

Buoyant energy arises from a very warm and humid air mass close to the ground, and this stokes a powerful updraft within the storm cloud. Several hours of sunshine after morning showers enabled temperatures to climb into the low 80s. The amount of available buoyant energy quickly increased. The severe storm cell that tracked from near Warrenton, Va., to Cambridge was a lone wolf, in that it was an isolated entity with an unlimited command on available buoyant energy.

Additionally, the wind shear was exceptionally strong for mid-May, thanks to an intensifying jet stream disturbance aloft. Wind shear of this intensity causes the updraft to lean downwind, allowing it to unload its cache of rainwater and hail over long distances. In such an environment, buoyancy forces can act unimpeded and permit the updraft to accelerate to high velocity. Higher velocities enable the updraft to suspend larger stones aloft.

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