Something unusual that happened that day

I was in Hokkaido, Japan for holiday last month. We were driving leisurely from Hakodate to Otaru. It was drizzling as usual (winter is known to be a wet season). We passed by some wind farms (the ones where they have giant fan-like structures in the ocean to harness the wind energy to generate electricity). It was awesome! We stopped by the road side and took pictures of it. It was very peaceful as we were cruising along the coastal area. We even drove through a 3.8km long tunnel called the Raiden Tunnel. We were in the tunnel for quite a long time before we actually saw light. At that time, the temperature was about 2°C and I was really hoping it would actually fall to 0°C or less so I could experience snow.

We finally reached Otaru and just as I was deep in thoughts, the unexpected happened!

It snowed (NOT)!! It HAILED!! At first, I did not realise that it was hailing. However, I started to hear tiny clattering sound on the car. I wound down the window, only to find hail falling all over me. The hail could be seen very clearly as I was wearing a black winter coat. I had never seen hail before although I have seen snow a few times. I was ecstatic! Event though the temperature was almost freezing, I kept the windows down the whole time until the hail stopped. Then, it started raining. 

As I did not know how hail is form, I ask my father. He told me that hail is frozen rain that falls from the sky. When the temperature at the top of the clouds is low, water droplets that are carried to the top freeze. The air movement inside the clouds is able to carry the frozen droplets up and down the clouds many times. Every time the droplet rises, a new layer of ice forms on it. This process will keep repeating itself until the clouds can no longer bear the weight of the droplets and the droplets will fall as hailstones.

However, this was not all. The next morning, when we travelled to Sapporo,  my wish came true. As we stepped out of the hotel, it started snowing. It was unbelievable. We were totally thrilled !! That was also the day that we were going back to Singapore. I feel I am truly blessed to have witnessed both hail and snow in one vacation.