In this work, the hailstone size distributions at the ground in the plain of Friuli-Venezia Giulia are presented, as revealed through a network of polystyrene pads (hailpads), managed by volunteers, which has been active since 1988. The aim of this work is to highlight possible differences in the diurnal and seasonal behavior of hail at the ground, both from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and other countries, in order to improve the knowledge of this meteorological phenomenon. In the comparison between different countries, differences are found between the yearly size distributions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and those of North-East Colorado, measured during the National Hail Research Experiment (NHRE). The size distributions obtained in South West France and in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are quite similar and they are slightly different from those of the Grossversuch experiment. In the comparison between different periods of the year, relevant differences an found between April and May and the other months. In particular, thunderstorms are less efficient in producing big hailstones during the former months. The most prolific month in producing hailstones is June, followed by September. This feature is interpreted as due to a form of synergy between the frequency of the synoptic forcing of storms and the amount of available energy at the ground. Analyzing the size distributions at different times of the day, the greatest differences are found in the intervals [00-06] and [06-12] in local time (respectively, [22-04] and [04-10] in UTC). These differences cannot be ascribed to the melting of the hailstones during their fall. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
