22 FT383MONSTER HAIL
A heavy hailstorm on 30June
left six suburbs in the Mexican
city of Guadalajara carpeted
in a thick layer of ice, up to
5ft (1.5m) thick in places, half-
buryingvehicles. Hundreds of
houseswere damaged.There
was alsofl ooding andfallen
trees, but no one is thought to
have been hurt.Pedestrians
struggled to cross the mounds
of slush,children tried to
toboggan down the pavement
and soldiers used bulldozers to
clearroads.
The storm hitveryquickly,
betweenabout 1:50am (6:50am
GMT) and 2:10am local time,
when the air temperature
dropped suddenly from 22 ̊C
(72 ̊F) to 14 ̊C (57 ̊F).The
city had been basking in
temperatures of more than
30 ̊C (86 ̊F).The hail probably
melted on contact due to the
high temperatures,forminga la yer of water upon which
more hail could land andfl oat.
This combination ofwater
and hail likely moved down
a slope, with obstacles such
as buildings blocking the
fl ow and allowing more ice to
accumulate on top. Although
hailstorms are not uncommon
in the mountain-fringed city
of fi ve million people, which
is 5,000ft (1,520m)above
sea level, no one canrecall
anything on this scale, with
entire streets becoming rivers
of ice, paralysing transportfor
hours.The actual hailstones
were relatively small, less than
1cm in diameter, and nothing
like the golf-ball sized hail seen
at times in severestorms in the
US.BBC News, 1July; Times,
D.Mail, 2July 2019.- Hailstones the size of eggs
battered the city of Chengde
in Hebei, northern China,for
10 minutes on the night of 15
May, destroying homes,roofs
and trees – though no casualties
were reported. One video shows
the tiles of aroof falling off
pieceby piece as the massive
lumps of ice hit it. A man is
seen clearing aroad that had
been completely covere d with
hail.The ad verse weather also
left batches ofchestnut trees
barren, another clip shows.
“Mychestnut trees are gone!
No chestnutsfor us to eat this
year,” one womanwas heard
exclaiming.The thunderstorm
also battered the Jinshanling
section of the GreatWall.
dailymail.co.uk, 16 May 2019.- Storms on 15June hurled
hailstones the size of ping-pong
balls on the crops of south-
easternFrance, prompting
authorities to declare a state
of “natural emergency”.The
pellets bored holes through
protective netting to hammer
the fruit below, turningmuch
of it to pulp and putting
farmers at risk of bankruptcy.
Many lost 80 to 100 per cent of
their crops.Worst hitwas the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpsregion,
known as the “orchard of
France”.The hail also wreaked
destruction on part of the
Saint-Joseph vineyards and
reportedly wiped out half of
the Croze-Hermitage harvest,
despite it being equipped with
anti-hail devices. “In 35years,
I’ve never seen such violence,”
said Pierre Combat, president
of a wine inspection unit.A
touristwas killed in the Haute-
Savoie when a tree crashed
on her campingvehicle and
a woman drowned in Lake
Geneva when her boat sank.
The storm also damaged 465
boats taking part in aregatta
on the lake.Guardian, 17June;
D.Telegraph, 18June 2019.Mexicancitycovere dinice,Francehitbygiant
FALLINGFROMTHESKY hailstones,frozenstowawa yplummetstoEarthABOVE:A policeman stands next tovehicles buried in hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on 30 June 2019ULISES RUIZ / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
STRANGEDAYS