Saturday, August 20, 2011

Notes from the High Plains: Hail Destruction



Will and I were driving through lush farm land of corn and soy when suddenly the lush fields ended. Initially I was trying to figure out what the new crop was or if we had crossed some geologic boundary of poor soil, but then I noticed most of the trees were missing their leaves. Apparently 6 inches of hail had fallen just two days ago with hail the size of quarters. The width of the destruction was about three miles.

Earlier, we had seen this in another town:


Hail is not very common in Washington State. We simply do not have the atmospheric instability that causes such intense thunderstorms and hail. Had to feel bad for the farmers that lost their entire crop along the path of the storm.  

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