soft hail

noun

Examples of soft hail in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Small hail and graupel, or soft hail, can be expected with the stronger showers. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 3 Apr. 2024 Yes, even homely, lonely graupel — the soft hail that coated parts of Interstate 8 last winter, making driving a white-knuckle affair. Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 July 2023 That’s why graupel is also known as soft hail or popcorn snow. Jack Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2023 Scattered rain is expected to fall north of I-80 starting in the afternoon and continuing into the evening — and showers could contain graupel, or soft hail. Chicago Tribune Staff, Chicago Tribune, 13 Oct. 2022 One or two could drop some soft hail. Washington Post, 13 Nov. 2021 In between, there’s graupel—a kind of soft hail. Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 11 Nov. 2022 Graupel is also called snow pellets or soft hail, as the graupel particles are particularly fragile and generally disintegrate when handled. Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2023 Small hail and graupel — also known as soft hail — fell in Santa Rosa, Hollister and the Sacramento area on Wednesday afternoon. Claire Hao, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'soft hail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of soft hail was in 1840

Dictionary Entries Near soft hail

Cite this Entry

“Soft hail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soft%20hail. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

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