Experts say a massive hail stone discovered by veteran trackers in the Texas Panhandle Sunday has the potential to be a new state record, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Veteran storm chasers with KWTV News in Oklahoma City, Val and Amy Castor, were tracking a major thunderstorm system when they found a chunk of hail over 7 inches long by the side on the roadside near Vigo Park, Texas, according to the AP.
“I could see it from probably 100 yards away,” Val Castor reportedly said of the stone he described was approximately the size of a pineapple. “That’s the biggest hail I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been chasing storms for more than 30 years.” (RELATED: ‘Took A Shotgun And Blasted It’: Unimaginable Hail Storm Destroys Thousands Of Solar Panels In Texas)
A hail stone the size of a pineapple was found in Texas. It likely sets a state record https://t.co/UD5oU2Oc2A
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 5, 2024
While he was driving through the storm, Castor said his car was hit by several baseball-sized hail stones, the AP reported. One reportedly cracked his windshield before he noticed the pineapple-sized behemoth lying in a ditch.
Currently, the largest hailstone on record in Texas’ recorded history is a 6.4-inch piece discovered in Hondo in 2021, according to AP.
Jordan Salem, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Lubbock, said that the Castors’ piece must be measured and confirmed by a group of experts, the Texas state climatologist among them, the outlet reported.
The largest hailstone in recorded U.S. history was discovered in the vicinity of Vivian, South Dakota in July 2010, the National Centers for Environmental Information said, according to the AP.
That hail stone reportedly had a diameter of 11 inches and weighed almost 2 pounds, according to the organization.
A May hail storm in Colorado dumped so much baseball sized hail it piled up ice knee-deep that authorities needed heavy equipment to remove, the AP previously reported.
