What is hail?

Hail is defined as frozen precipitation that falls as balls or irregular lumps of ice. It forms within convective clouds, particularly during severe thunderstorms, where strong updrafts carry water droplets high into the atmosphere. As these droplets ascend, they freeze and may collide with additional water droplets, causing them to gain layers of ice. When the weight of this ice overcomes the updrafts, the hailstones fall to the ground.

This definition aligns with the characteristics of hail, which can vary in size and is distinct from other forms of precipitation. The other options describe different types of precipitation: liquid drops from clouds refer to rain, frozen rain is a phenomenon known as sleet or glaze ice, and snowflakes represent solid precipitation in a crystalline form. Thus, the key distinguishing factors of hail as a specific type of frozen precipitation are well captured in the correct answer.