World Record Hailstone Weighed In Vivian

[dkmac]

By Shawn Neisteadt
Published: July 27, 2010, 5:52 PM



VIVIAN, SD - A small South Dakota town is being recognized for a big find after last Friday's storms.

It was Friday afternoon when a line of thunderstorms fired up in central South Dakota. High winds, heavy rains and even a possible tornado rolled through the town of Vivian. But now days later, a hailstone picked up just moments after the storm is getting worldwide attention.

The damage is proof that it wasn't a typical South Dakota thunderstorm. Holes were punched through the top of buildings, and Les Scott will never forget what it sounded like.

"A guy throwing bricks at the house and many of them and it was scary," Scott said.

Scott watched as massive hailstones pummeled the ground. Tuesday, the dents in the ground are still visible, some as large and deep as coffee cans. But when the hail stopped, a certain stone grabbed his attention.

"I just happened to see this one fall and the only reason I went out and got it is because it has all these fingers sticking out of it and I thought, 'Oh, that's weird.' So I thought I'd go get that one," Scott said.

Scott originally wanted to make a daiquiri out of the hail, but decided to contact the National Weather Service instead. Tuesday, they were in Vivian. They carefully took the stone from the freezer and placed it in a cooler with dry ice. The next stop was at the post office where the hail had a date with the federally certified scale. Moments later, the hailstone weighed in at 1.9375 pounds.

“Officially, where records have been kept, this will be the U.S. record and world record for weight. So very impressive," Mike Fowle of the National Weather Service said.

But the inspection of the new world record hail wasn't done there. To ensure that the hailstone didn't melt, it was then measured while inside a freezer at a local convenience store.

The hailstone is down to 17 inches around, but was measured just a few days ago at 18 and a half inches. That is another world record number.

"I didn't think it was near that, but I'm glad I got it I guess. I'm just sad about the town of Vivian. I hope the insurance people help them out as much as they can because they need it," Scott said.

As impressive as the size and weight are, it may have topped two pounds when it fell from the sky. While Scott placed it in the freezer, the power was out for six hours following the storm, and it likely melted a bit in that time.

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDet....cfm?Id=102949

[virgo10]

O. M. G. !!! It really is hard to wrap your brain around what kind of damage something that large could do. Amazing.

[Brett Adair]

Shattered the record. That thing weighed around 1.9lbs. This was after substantial melting took place. NWS ABR got out the next day to check the stone out. Wild stuff for sure.

[Joe-Nathan]

FROM CoCoRaHS:

Subject: CoCoRaHS -- Update




The hail stone

Within the past hour, the largest fully-documented hail stone in terms
of weight (1.94 pounds) and diameter (8.0 inches) has just reached its
final resting place at the cold lab at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.. Henry Reges of the CoCoRaHS
team had the honors of driving the 3rd leg of the relay that carried
this stone successfully (carefully packaged and packed in dry ice) from
the freezer of its finder in Vivian, South Dakota to the hail research
facility in Boulder. The stone is now in the hands of Dr. Charles
Knight who, interestingly, was already well established as a hail
specialist back in 1970 when the Coffeyville, Kansas record hail stone
was collected and documented.

The plans are to make a casting (mold) of this stone so that replicas
can be displayed at the Historical Museum in Lyman County, South Dakota
and at the Aberdeen, SD National Weather Service Office. We'll also be
posting some photos of the stone and its unveiling this AM in Boulder, CO.

Is this really the biggest hail stone ever to hit the U.S. -- well,
probably not. Chances are a bigger stone fell sometime and somewhere.
But the odds of capturing a stone this large and securing it intact are
very low. So if you ever have giant hail (and please know "giant" is
relative. In parts of the country anything over 2-3" is huge, up and
down the Great Plains those size stones occur fairly often and you have
to be in the 4-5" range to be really unusual. But anywhere in the
country, stones over 5" in diameter are rare and well worth documenting.

By the way, it was 31 years ago today (I may be off a day or two) that
Fort Collins was pummeled by large hail. I left town that day for a
camping trip in Wyoming and didn't find out about if for over a week.
Back then, the Denver Broncos had summer training camp here in Fort
Collins so the big news story was all the fancy football player cars
damaged by the hail. But the tragic part of the story was a local
fatality where a baby was struck and killed while their panicked mother
ran carrying the child to shelter. There were also several injuries --
some broken arms with people covering their heads. So please remember,
large hail is scary dangerous and deserves the greatest of respect.

[Joe-Nathan]

STORM REPORT FROM ABERDEEN, SD:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/abr/?n=stormdamagetemplate

Summary:

During the late afternoon and early evening hours of 23 July 2010, thunderstorms developed over portions of central South Dakota. Several storms quickly became severe in an environment favorable for supercell thunderstorms. In particular, one very strong supercell thunderstorm moved southeastward across portions of Stanley, Jones, and Lyman counties. One of the hardest hit locations was the community of Vivian, South Dakota, where extremely large hail, destructive winds to 80 mph, and a brief tornado were reported.

A record setting hailstone was ultimately discovered in Vivian, measuring 8.0 inches in diameter, 18.625 inches in circumference, and weighing in at an amazing 1.9375 pounds!! This hailstone broke the previous United States hail size record for diameter (7.0 inches - 22 June 2003 in Aurora, NE) and weight (1.67 pounds - 3 September 1970 in Coffeyvile, KS). The Aurora, Nebraska hailstone will retain the record for circumference (18.75 inches).

The hailstone's official record dimensions were as of the time personnel from the NWS in Aberdeen first observed and measured it. The stone did shrink considerably (melting and sublimation) between impact and when it was first measured by NWS personnel due in part to a power outgage at the residence of the individual who found the stone. It should also be noted that many other stones with diameters exceeding 6 inches were also noted during the storm survey!

FROM KELOLAND NEWS:
Great photos

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDet....cfm?Id=102949

By Shawn Neisteadt
Published: July 27, 2010, 5:52 PM

VIVIAN, SD - A small South Dakota town is being recognized for a big find after last Friday's storms.

It was Friday afternoon when a line of thunderstorms fired up in central South Dakota. High winds, heavy rains and even a possible tornado rolled through the town of Vivian. But now days later, a hailstone picked up just moments after the storm is getting worldwide attention.

The damage is proof that it wasn't a typical South Dakota thunderstorm. Holes were punched through the top of buildings, and Les Scott will never forget what it sounded like.

"A guy throwing bricks at the house and many of them and it was scary," Scott said.
...

Please note the mistake in title. It is not the World Record, just U.S.A. record.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST THE INITIAL NWS INSPECTION IN COLORADO: