Large Hailstone

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Here's something I received today concerning a very large hailstone that fell in Nebraska last Monday. I thought forum members may be interested. Would anyone know of the largest hailstone to fall in New Zealand?

JohnGaul
NZTS




First Key West FL back in April...now a record-smashing hailstone in Nebraska:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1027 AM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....

0955 PM AURORA NE 6.5 INCH DIAMETER HAIL
06/22/03 HAMILTON 17 3/8 INCH CIRCUMFERENCE
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. HOLES IN
NEIGHBORS ROOF BIG
ENOUGH TO CRAWL THROUGH.
From an AP story on the event.:

Gov. Mike Johanns toured Deshler on Monday and declared the county a
disaster area.

At least one hailstone that fell during the storm in Aurora, near Grand Island, was the size of a cantaloupe, measuring 6 1/2 inches in
diameter, said Ryan McCammon, a weather service meteorologist in
Hastings. A resident put it into a freezer soon after it fell, and the
weather service sent a team to confirm the size.
That's the largest ever recorded in Nebraska, and just one-eighth of an
inch smaller than the national record holder, which was found in 1970
at Coffeyville, Kan. Hailstones measuring 4 1/2 inches across also were
found in Aurora.
"When it came down it looked just like someone dropping volleyballs down," said Dale Obermeier, a weather service spotter in Aurora who
said the hail dug craters in his yard. He said one resident reported the hail punched a hole in his roof that was large enough for him to crawl through.
Some hints of the elusive "warm trench" cloud top signature surrounding
the coldest overshooting tops a couple of hours prior to the beast emitting the large hail:

ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/ssec/scottb ... 15_IR4.GIF

2003 is shaping up to be The Year of the Big Hailstone...

Scott Bachmeier University of Wisconsin - Madison / SSEC / CIMSS
[email protected] http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottb

[NZstorm]

The mind boggles at the power of some of the USA storms.

I heard a radio report some years ago of tennis ball size hail destroying an apple crop in the Hawkes Bay. That size was never confirmed.

Golf ball size hail was reported from West Auckland last winter.
But large hail is extremely rare in Auckland and when it has occured has been in the west.

Interesting report John.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Here is a picture of a man holding the hailstone
http://66.180.7.47/np_0/large/623jbhail.jpg

JohnGaul
NZTS

I tried to put the picture of the man holding the hailstone on this forum but it wouldn't work so the attachment will have to do

[Andy]

When it came down it looked just like someone dropping volleyballs down....... Now thats big.

The US can have some big storms alright

Most people will remember the big hail storm that hit Sydney a few years back.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

There were large hailstones (Grapefruit size)with that storm on 14th April 1999 but it was the aggresiveness of the force of the hail falling to the ground that caused the damage .... and, as the general public would say - "why didn't the BOM to forecast it" !!!
In the USA they call huge hailstones - "Gorrilas", not volleyballs


JohnGaul
NZTS

[Andy]

In the USA they call huge hailstones - "Gorrilas", not volleyballs



What r Gorrilas.. John?

[Andy]