This manuscript highlights the large, and local scale patterns accompanied with high and low frequency hail years in Switzerland. Analysis is conducted on both the north, and the south side of the Swiss Alps, due to the differences in their respective convection-triggering mechanisms. The manuscript is very intriguing and well-written. My main suggestions are adding further analysis comparing the large scale patterns associated with the north, and south Alps strong hail years (see comments below).

1. #28 - instead of moisture deficit, maybe just moisture conditions?
2. #32-34: no action item, love the way this is laid out!
3. #35-37: can the authors elaborate a little, for each of these scenarios? A few sentences are enough.
4. #53: What is differential vorticity advection?
5. #56: theta_e is not defined.
6. #78: So -> thus
7. #94: I’m not sure what the question means.
8. #108: or ->and. Can the authors briefly explain how and why two different time formats are used?
9. #115: Can the author elaborate on the motivation of “singling out” and examining blocking frequency?
10. #138: Citation format error
11. #187-188: I think I get this statement, but I’m not sure. Do you mean that we see this type of anomalies potentially because this type of anomaly is frequently occurring, regardless of active or non-active hail year? Can the authors elaborate on this?
12. Fig.3 caption:Suggest moving the ‘the R-metic represents…’ part into the main manuscript body, where R-metris is first mentioned.
13. #212: Since it is mentioned, suggesting adding a brief summary on why the aforementioned large style conditions are favorable (this would also nicely follow the logic of #32-34).
14. #234: Is this sentence jumbled?
15. #252-253: The boundary layer alone cannot determine CIN and CAPE. Suggesting also discussing the overall vertical thermodynamics profile.
16. #254: I understand the aforementioned conditions are favorable for deep moist conditions, but hail doesn’t seem to be specifically looped in. Can the authors elaborate on the chain of logic? Even if it’s just more supercell-esque stable, long living storms -> more hail. Also, does the active hail year correspond to the active storm years in the region? It may be interesting to check.
17. #321: Is there a way to check if the high CIN promotes less disorganized storms (as the authors previously mentioned)?
18. #329-330: Can the authors briefly explain how the goal of this analysis differs from the R-metic ones?
19. #334-335: Correct me if I’m wrong- I’m trying to interpret Fig 8. If the strongest-year seasonal mean leans closer towards hail days (row 3,4) and differs a lot from all non-hail days (row 1,2), that means the seasonal mean of the variable examined is more relevant to frequent hail occurrences. On the other hand, if the strongest-year seasonal mean has virtually little difference compared to non-hail days (like SST here), the seasonal mean of the variable examined is not especially relevant. Does this sound right?
20. #351-352. Cool observations! What do you think this indicates specifically? Z500, SST and T2m are less relevant/only come into effect in indicating hail frequency when the anomalies reach a certain degree?
21. #366-367: Seems like the two explanations are directly contradicting each other (unless it’s the authors’ intention).
22. #398: It would be really nice to have a side by side comparison for the north, and south anomaly setup (e.g., Fig 2a and  Fig 5a, in the style of FIg. 10 or Fig A5) with one of two paragraphs explaining why the differences occur. 
23. #403-409: Can the authors explain why these differences exist? (see the last comment).
24. #432: Can we move Fig. A5 into the main text? It’s a really nice figure and extensively discussed in the manuscript.
25. #440: Why is some northern-strongest hail year not also southern-strongest hail year then, if the north is characterized by stronger anomalies? What is the limiting factor for the south in those years?
26.  #444-448: Very cool summaries! No action item here.
27. #518: Steepened -> reduced? (inversion-like?) Unless I completely got it wrong.
28. #544: Can the authors elaborate on the “this” in together this.

This manuscript investigates large- and local-scale atmospheric patterns associated with hail-active years in Switzerland. The analysis is conducted separately for northern and southern Switzerland, and highlights the similarities and differences of the discussed mechanisms. The manuscript is well written and clearly structured. The methodologyis robust and explained with an appropriate level of detail. The figures are informative and comprehensive, and the results are both original and noteworthy, making the study suitable for publication. I have only minor comments that should be addressed prior to

publication.

Please find the review attached.