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4ft of hail falls in Texas!

Started by jimmy olsen, April 13, 2012, 03:57:54 AM

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jimmy olsen

I had no idea this was possible, and it's not even a record!  :blink:

Cool photos can be found here
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/12/11160993-4-feet-of-hail-in-texas-reports-photos-cause-quite-a-storm?lite
Quote4 feet of hail in Texas? Reports, photos cause quite a storm

By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

Sure, everything's bigger in Texas. But 4 feet of hail from one storm? That's what the National Weather Service, the Texas Department of Transportation, a local sheriff and others say happened Wednesday in an area north of Amarillo when hail piled up in drifts so wide they cut off a major highway.

The National Weather Service office in Amarillo even posted a photo on its Facebook page, but that wasn't enough to convince skeptics.

"Serious do not think this is 100% hail!!!" commented one person.

"It's a lite dusting of hail on some damn rocks," said another person, referring to the image of a firefighter standing next to what could be taken for boulders.

"I can assure you we do not have big rocks like that in West Texas," Krissy Scotten, a spokeswoman for the weather service office in Amarillo, told msnbc.com.

"That was 4 feet of ice" that was compacted by rain and floodwater across a wide area, she added.

"It was actually the rain/water that caused the drifts," Scotten said. "Anytime you have hail accumulate 2 to 4 feet high and get over three inches of rain, no matter how it occurs, it's pretty incredible."

As for the darkish color, "we're very dusty around here" due to drought so the hail quickly darkened, Scotten said.

The image, she added, was sent by the Potter County Fire Department and the firefighter seen in it is standing where meltwater had cut through the hail.

The Texas Department of Transportation confirms it was deep hail dumped by a storm that dropped visibility to near-zero at times.

"Heavy rain and up to 4 ft of hail has US 287 blocked north of Amarillo," it tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

The local sheriff concurred as well.

"You're looking at four foot deep" hail in one stretch, NBC affiliate KAMR-TV quoted Brian Thomas, sheriff of Potter County, as saying. "This was just one of those weird storms that just sat here and came down extremely heavy in this one area."

Amarillo TV station Pronews 7 even shot video of flash flooding triggered by the pea-sized hail and several inches of rain.

"It looked like soap suds," said Pronews 7 meteorologist Steve Kersh. "The storm was moving really slow and a combination of the pea-sized hail and four to six inches of rain created those conditions."

KAMR-TV reported that snow plows were called out to clear roads. Highway 287 was shut down for hours after the storm due to the cleanup.

Several vehicles got stuck in the flash flooding, and two feet of water also swamped a stretch of Highway 136, the weather service reported. One Chevy Tahoe, a large SUV, got stuck in hail up to its hood, Scotten said.

The pea-sized hailstones weren't big enough to set any size records, and Scotten said the service doesn't keep records for most hail in a given period.

But Jose Garcia, chief forecaster at the weather service in Amarillo, told msnbc.com it probably wasn't the most hail the region has seen.

"Five to 6 feet deep hail" fell in nearby Dalhart, Texas, in 1993 during a very similar storm, he said. It took almost a month for some roads to reopen as the compact ice melted slowly. "It was almost like huge snow drifts," he said.
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Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
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MadBurgerMaker


Valmy

The weather in the Texas Panhandle is notoriously shitty.  Brutally hot in the summer, freezing cold in the winter, and spectacularly violent storms all year.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Viking

Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2012, 07:47:58 AM
The weather in the Texas Panhandle is notoriously shitty.  Brutally hot in the summer, freezing cold in the winter, and spectacularly violent storms all year.

Drove throught the texas panhandle once... lubbock is a dump. We actually had to turn the AC to recycle because the entire place stank so bad of cow shit.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Valmy

Quote from: Viking on April 13, 2012, 07:50:14 AM
Drove throught the texas panhandle once... lubbock is a dump. We actually had to turn the AC to recycle because the entire place stank so bad of cow shit.

I drove through Lubbock on my way to Santa Fe a few years back and it was about 9PM when we got there and since it was supposed to be a city we stopped to get dinner and man...the place was completely dead.  It looked like we rolled in at 4AM instead of 9PM.  We finally found an open restaurant and we were the only ones there.  Freaky.  I didn't think my opinion of Lubbock could have possibly gotten lower.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

jimmy olsen

Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2012, 08:00:05 AM
Quote from: Viking on April 13, 2012, 07:50:14 AM
Drove throught the texas panhandle once... lubbock is a dump. We actually had to turn the AC to recycle because the entire place stank so bad of cow shit.

I drove through Lubbock on my way to Santa Fe a few years back and it was about 9PM when we got there and since it was supposed to be a city we stopped to get dinner and man...the place was completely dead.  It looked like we rolled in at 4AM instead of 9PM.  We finally found an open restaurant and we were the only ones there.  Freaky.  I didn't think my opinion of Lubbock could have possibly gotten lower.
In a city of 220k people!?  :huh:
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Valmy

Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 13, 2012, 08:02:17 AM
In a city of 220k people!?  :huh:

I know.  220k people that are all home by 8 apparently.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

PDH

After 8 the Khamsin rolls through.
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
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mongers

#8
Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2012, 08:06:45 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 13, 2012, 08:02:17 AM
In a city of 220k people!?  :huh:

I know.  220k people that are all home by 8 apparently.

We have an alternative take on that here; I live on the edge of a small national park of about 350 sq miles, the New Forest and in the evenings and most of the year its almost entirely empty and yet within 10-12 miles of its boundaries are urban areas with a combined populations of around 3/4 million people. 

What are they doing in the spring and summer evenings, watching tv ? :unsure:
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Fate

Quote from: Valmy on April 13, 2012, 08:00:05 AM
Quote from: Viking on April 13, 2012, 07:50:14 AM
Drove throught the texas panhandle once... lubbock is a dump. We actually had to turn the AC to recycle because the entire place stank so bad of cow shit.

I drove through Lubbock on my way to Santa Fe a few years back and it was about 9PM when we got there and since it was supposed to be a city we stopped to get dinner and man...the place was completely dead.  It looked like we rolled in at 4AM instead of 9PM.  We finally found an open restaurant and we were the only ones there.  Freaky.  I didn't think my opinion of Lubbock could have possibly gotten lower.

I'd believe you if you said it was a Sunday.

I never have a problem finding a place to eat here, but I agree with your low opinion of Lubbock.  :sleep:

Caliga

I bet they have damn good chili in Lubbock. :)
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Jaron

Provo is a fair sized city but a lot of places close early - 9pm is common and almost nothing is open on Sunday.
Winner of THE grumbler point.