Soccer Ball Sized South Dakota Hailstone Largest on Record
July 31st, 2010 - 2:39 am ICT by Angela Kaye MasonJuly 30 (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to the National Weather Service announcement on Friday, a giant hailstone which was eight inches in diameter and weighed what was described as “an amazing” 1.9375 was found on a South Dakota ranch near the tiny town of Vivian.
Ranch hand Leslie Scott discovered the hailstone, which he says shrank by three inches due to melting, because even though he placed it in his freezer, the storm knocked out his power, and the heat began melting the hailstone before he could get it to be measured at the weather service’s National Climate Extremes Committee, which is responsible for validating weather related claims.
A warning condition meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Aberdeen by the name of David Hintz confirmed Scott’s claim that the hailstone was much larger at one point than it measured out to be. “Mr. Scott told me the area was littered with large hailstones and the largest had a greater diameter when he first found it,” Hintz said.
The record previously held in the US for a hailstone for weight was 1.67 pounds, and was found in Kansas 40 years ago. The previous diameter record for a hailstone in the United States was seven inches and was found in Nebraska.
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Tags: aberdeen, climate extremes, david hintz, diameter, eight inches, freezer, hailstones, leslie scott, meteorologist, national climate, national weather service, national weather service office, nebraska, service announcement, soccer ball, south dakota, tiny town, vivian, weather service office