Columbia "hailstorm"

[Adam Lucio]

http://www.7x7news.com/2007/11/04/freak-hail-storm-causes-chaos-in-columbia/

I dont know if they have different termonology in Columbia, but I think this was probably sleet and not hail. I havent seen or heard of hail accumulating this deep before, but in any case, its pretty wild.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

That's definitely hail, and those kinds of accumulations have occurred in the U.S. many times. Since hail is ice, it floats in the water, and can be carried along with storm water runoff into low lying areas (like highway underpasses) and accumulate to great depths. There have been images from the Front Range of accumulations near low areas and drainpipes approaching 4-5 feet. Of course, 4-5 feet of hail didn't fall - probably more like a 6" fall.

 

[Adam Lucio]

It was the mentioning of freezing temperatures that threw me off but I guess they were reffering to the water/ice. Ive never seen hail come close to getting that deep, just covering the roadways...I guess I need to punch more cores

 

[mrobinett]

Check out this guys' shots from a remote piloted helicam, he was doing some "balcony shots" and the storm rolled in:
http://runryder.com/helicopter/t385179p1/
Right place, right time, right equipment!