Hail observed at Ny Alesund, Svalbard in Arctic during December - February 2018-19 is examined along with the atmospheric circulation patterns. When hail was noticed, surface warming and southwesterly – westerly winds were noticed. Atmospheric circulation pattern was characterised by high pressure anomaly over northwestern Europe or in the North Atlantic and represented the first and third EOF of SLP anomalies north of 40N. EOF-2, even though, characterised by a high pressure anomaly over northern Europe (EOF-2) did not result in intense precipitation. Cloud as well as liquid water were higher/lower during EOF-1 and 3 / EOF-2 active phases. This is because winds travel over ocean collect more moisture as well as transport nucleating particles to Svalbard when EOF-1 and EOF-3 were active. At the same time, the West Spitzbergen current (WSC) induce a strong east west sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the ocean west of Svalbard. A corresponding gradient in the atmospheric temperature is also maintained by the WSC in the west to east direction in the lower atmosphere. Moisture laden westerlies cross the SST gradient inducing strong frontal activity in the lower atmosphere resulting intense precipitation and hail. Human activities in Arctic as elsewhere is bound to increase. Hence, there is a need to study the intense precipitation in Arctic as well as its reasons as it can impact the Arctic environment and human activity. This calls for more continuous observations to clearly identify mechanisms and frequency of intense precipitation in the Arctic.
