Spring and summer mountain thunderstorms can produce precipitation that sometimes includes graupel or small hail that can penetrate well below the freezing level.
A good example happened yesterday over the Nordkette ridge just north of Innsbruck. I had a great view of it from my office. The storm popped up around 2 PM local time. The streaky virga in the right of the photo below srongly suggested the presence of graupel or small hail. A bit farther to the west (left in the photo) though was less precipitation and even a bit of sun peaking through a hole in the clouds.
After a couple of rumbles of thunder, the storm was over quickly. Light graupel accumulations were evident where the cell was, with accumulations reaching down to about 1900 meters, whereas the high ridge farther west, which reaches over 2300 meters, was still snow free.
A web-cam on the portion of the ridge that received precipitation showed some graupel accumulation at 1900 meters.
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| Source: https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/innsbruck/ |
It didn't take long for the graupel to melt once the storm was over, but it was good entertainment while it lasted.
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