South Dakota hailstone is largest on record in U.S.
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Jul 30, 2010, 5:01:04 PM7/30/10
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Perilous Times and Climate Change
South Dakota hailstone is largest on record in U.S.
James Scarlett, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, S.D., holds a hailstone that may be among the world's largest in the walk-in freezer of the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop in Vivian, S.D.
By Jeff Martin, USA TODAY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A giant chunk of hail that plunged into the prairie town of Vivian, S.D., last Friday was confirmed today as the heaviest hailstone ever recorded in the United States.
The National Climate Extremes Committee, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, confirmed the weight of a record 1.94 pounds and also a record diameter (8 inches).
The previous heaviest — a hailstone stone that fell in Coffeyville, Kan., on Sept. 3, 1970 — was 1.67 pounds, according to records from the National Climatic Data Center.
"I've been in the weather business for 20 years now and I've never seen a hailstone as large," says Jim Scarlett, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, S.D. "I described this one as cantaloupe-size."
The world record belongs to a 2.25-pound hailstone that fell in Bangladesh on April 14, 1986, according to Paul Hudspeth, a meteorologist at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
Leslie Scott, a ranch hand, found the Bunyan-esque chunk of ice after it fell outside his central South Dakota home.
"The only reason I went out and picked this one up is because it had a whole bunch of fingers sticking out of it," he said. "These would take your head off... they were wicked."
But a power outage warmed the freezer a bit, Scott said, and he also opened it a few times to let neighbors marvel at the hailstone, so there may have been some melting, he said.
While the Vivian hailstone was confirmed as the heaviest and largest in diameter, its 18.5-inch circumference fell just shy of that record, Scarlett said. A hailstone that fell in Aurora, Neb., in 2003 measured 18.75 inches in circumference, according to National Climatic Data Center records.
The hailstone is on its way to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., where scientists will store it in a cold lab and study its growth rings and other traits to learn more about how hail forms, says Dave Hintz, a meteorologist at the weather service in Aberdeen.
Also planned: Two castings will be made — one for a museum in Lyman County, S.D., and another for Scott to keep in his home, Hintz says.
Martin reports for the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D.
South Dakota hailstone is largest on record in U.S.
James Scarlett, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, S.D., holds a hailstone that may be among the world's largest in the walk-in freezer of the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop in Vivian, S.D.
By Jeff Martin, USA TODAY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A giant chunk of hail that plunged into the prairie town of Vivian, S.D., last Friday was confirmed today as the heaviest hailstone ever recorded in the United States.
The National Climate Extremes Committee, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, confirmed the weight of a record 1.94 pounds and also a record diameter (8 inches).
The previous heaviest — a hailstone stone that fell in Coffeyville, Kan., on Sept. 3, 1970 — was 1.67 pounds, according to records from the National Climatic Data Center.
"I've been in the weather business for 20 years now and I've never seen a hailstone as large," says Jim Scarlett, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Aberdeen, S.D. "I described this one as cantaloupe-size."
The world record belongs to a 2.25-pound hailstone that fell in Bangladesh on April 14, 1986, according to Paul Hudspeth, a meteorologist at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
Leslie Scott, a ranch hand, found the Bunyan-esque chunk of ice after it fell outside his central South Dakota home.
"The only reason I went out and picked this one up is because it had a whole bunch of fingers sticking out of it," he said. "These would take your head off... they were wicked."
But a power outage warmed the freezer a bit, Scott said, and he also opened it a few times to let neighbors marvel at the hailstone, so there may have been some melting, he said.
While the Vivian hailstone was confirmed as the heaviest and largest in diameter, its 18.5-inch circumference fell just shy of that record, Scarlett said. A hailstone that fell in Aurora, Neb., in 2003 measured 18.75 inches in circumference, according to National Climatic Data Center records.
The hailstone is on its way to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., where scientists will store it in a cold lab and study its growth rings and other traits to learn more about how hail forms, says Dave Hintz, a meteorologist at the weather service in Aberdeen.
Also planned: Two castings will be made — one for a museum in Lyman County, S.D., and another for Scott to keep in his home, Hintz says.
Martin reports for the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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