MASSIVE hailstone falls in Wichita, Kansas

Ok? What the hell. This is being shared on Facebook from MO, US.

Despite the fact that it's a bowling ball, that I can only assume had already broken up some to be in tact (or never broke at all), I think this is alarming at a glance...

Around the 10th or 11th in Texas:

Hail, today, in Tehran, Iran

Hail, yesterday, in Nebraska, US

Is this normal? I'm up north in Canada, and this looks absolutely WILD to me.

Wow, just wow.

Having lived in Texas for several years, (where hail storms are very common) I always heard folks there say that they were "blessed by god to be born in texas". But with stuff like that flying down at their heads from some "bearded guy living on the clouds" above , I'd say they were NOT blessed at all.

Well... one thing is for sure. There will be little need to go out and purchase ice for those beverage coolers this summer. Just wait a day or two, or collect some in advanced!

All jokes aside... that first image HAS to be a world record! Ok maybe not 'has to', but surely, must be a contender. I can only imagine the danger those things pose as they come crashing down. That's big enough to kill someone.

If these recent storms, in regards to hail, are any indication for the future. I suggest that all ATS'ers get rid of those tinfoil hats, and replace them with old satellite dishes!

S&F's, awesome image and videos!

yeah,. nothing out of the ordinary here,.
just hail in mass amounts at the southern side of the Americas..
Love it,,,

Cant wait to hear "Cannonball-sized hail is normal. Just part of natural cycles. Nothing to see here."

This was posted in another thread a couple of days ago...the audio alone freaks me out:

It would take a VERY strong updraft to keep that forming... definitely possible, but extremely rare.

My guess is that if you cut it open, it will be a glob of softball size chunks that were all pushed upward at the same time and fused together.

~Namaste

Originally posted by gemdog
Cant wait to hear "Cannonball-sized hail is normal. Just part of natural cycles. Nothing to see here."

Theoretically hail can only get "so" big. BUT, if it does get to be big enough to begin threatening the integrity of your average roof, I'll be really looking into an underground bunker. Can't be too safe now...

Amazing. Powerful air currents in a thunderhead can keep things trapped inside for longer than one would think. The bigger the hail stone the longer the storm "held" it, adding layer upon layer of water, then freezing, then adding water again , churning up and down over and over in the cyclonic wind tunnel of a meza cyclone. The bigger the stone the more powerful the storm.

You want to gofer a real ride with a pilot who ejected and was carried by storms over 9 hours, read that nine hours, checkout The Man Who Rode The Thunder. I read it when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me.

Yeah its not a world record there are several of a much larger size recorded over the years. My favourite records come from Charles Hoy Forts "The Book of the Damned" A book written at a time in our history when the idea of meteors and comets was preposterous.

Ummmm, just a thought.. I have REALLY tiny hands.... if the were a picture of me holding it, it would look like a bowling ball if it were about softball sized... IT is STILL massive! I just wish we knew the actual size.

Originally posted by mellisamouse
Ummmm, just a thought.. I have REALLY tiny hands.... if the were a picture of me holding it, it would look like a bowling ball if it were about softball sized... IT is STILL massive! I just wish we knew the actual size.

I can't see it being any less than two softballs in size.

It definitely looks like it would be a hefty contender against some of the largest found. It looks very smoothed out and definitely as though it has a bit of weight to it, in comparison to the spiky wide ones that seem to hold all of the records.

Largest Hailstones on Record

Originally posted by intrptr

You want to gofer a real ride with a pilot who ejected and was carried by storms over 9 hours, read that nine hours, checkout The Man Who Rode The Thunder. I read it when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me.

9 hours? Says 40 minutes in the article I just read. And that cost him 7 weeks in hospital.

or am I mixing things up?

I've seen a similar story from a paraglider. She got sucked into a storm cloud and got carried away with it. I couldn't imagine that.. reminds me of the story of the bush fire, and in the middle of where a section had just been put out via water plane, they found the charred remains of a guy in full scuba gear.. hehe, the story goes he was sucked up into the water tank on the plane and dumped over the fire.. O.o

theres been a few to several deaths in the USA and Ditto in CHINA this week, from falling giant hail

what da HAIL indeed.

RIP giant hail victims! its going to be one crazy spring/summer... just imagine what HURRICANE season will be like, at this rate!

Originally posted by mainidh

Originally posted by intrptr

You want to gofer a real ride with a pilot who ejected and was carried by storms over 9 hours, read that nine hours, checkout The Man Who Rode The Thunder. I read it when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me.

9 hours? Says 40 minutes in the article I just read. And that cost him 7 weeks in hospital.

or am I mixing things up?

Nope. I was mistaken. Thanks for setting me straight. ( 9 hours where did I get that from?) I looked but couldn't find the article I was reading from. Intrptr eats hat and promises to be more careful...

This is a great thread thanks for posting it I've never seen hail that big im in Minnesota the hail we get here is pea size and comes down like rain..I cant imagine seeing something that huge and the damage something that large could do..We live in interesting times i cant wait to see what the rest of the year has to give us..peace,sugarcookie1 S&F

reply to post by murkraz

Wow, those some heap big stones of ice. From your google...


Dude was trying to catch it.
"I got it, I got it!" SMACK!
He got it.

Originally posted by Mapkar

Originally posted by gemdog
Cant wait to hear "Cannonball-sized hail is normal. Just part of natural cycles. Nothing to see here."

Theoretically hail can only get "so" big. BUT, if it does get to be big enough to begin threatening the integrity of your average roof, I'll be really looking into an underground bunker. Can't be too safe now...

What and flood when all the giant hail defrosts? I think i would rather take my chances above ground than be underground when the melt starts......

reply to post by Flavian


I had a lapse of logic, an above ground bunker would be a much better idea.

the big one in the OP looks like something that fell out the bathroom of a plane JK its a big one though