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Devin Singleton / KAMR
Meltwater rushes past hail several feet thick on Wednesday off Highway 287 north of Amarillo, Texas.
Sure, everything's bigger in Texas. But 4 feet of hail from one storm? That's what the National Weather Service, the Texas Department of Transportation, a local sheriff and others say happened Wednesday in an area north of Amarillo when hail piled up in drifts so wide they cut off a major highway.
The National Weather Service office in Amarillo even posted a photo on its Facebook page, but that wasn't enough to convince skeptics.
"Serious do not think this is 100% hail!!!" commented one person.
"It's a lite dusting of hail on some damn rocks," said another person, referring to the image of a firefighter standing next to what could be taken for boulders.
Potter County Fire Department via NWS
The National Weather Service's office in Amarillo, Texas, posted this photo Wednesday night of a firefighter standing next to deep hail.
"I can assure you we do not have big rocks like that in West Texas," Krissy Scotten, a spokeswoman for the weather service office in Amarillo, told msnbc.com.
"That was 4 feet of ice" that was compacted by rain and floodwater across a wide area, she added.
"It was actually the rain/water that caused the drifts," Scotten said. "Anytime you have hail accumulate 2 to 4 feet high and get over three inches of rain, no matter how it occurs, it's pretty incredible."
As for the darkish color, "we're very dusty around here" due to drought so the hail quickly darkened, Scotten said.
The image, she added, was sent by the Potter County Fire Department and Matt Dryden, the firefighter seen in it, is standing where meltwater had cut through the hail.
"It was like rivers of hail," Dryden told msnbc.com. "It looked like icebergs coming across the highway."
The Texas Department of Transportation confirms it was deep hail dumped by a storm that dropped visibility to near-zero at times.
Texas Department of Transportation
This highway webcam image was taken at 4:10 p.m. local time Wednesday and shows hail on Highway 287.
"Heavy rain and up to 4 ft of hail has US 287 blocked north of Amarillo," it tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
The local sheriff concurred as well.
"You're looking at four foot deep" hail in one stretch, NBC affiliate KAMR-TV quoted Brian Thomas, sheriff of Potter County, as saying. "This was just one of those weird storms that just sat here and came down extremely heavy in this one area."
Amarillo TV station Pronews 7 even shot video of flash flooding triggered by the pea-sized hail and several inches of rain.
"It looked like soap suds," said Pronews 7 meteorologist Steve Kersh. "The storm was moving really slow and a combination of the pea-sized hail and four to six inches of rain created those conditions."
KAMR-TV reported that snow plows were called out to clear roads. Highway 287 was shut down for hours after the storm due to the cleanup.
Several vehicles got stuck in the flash flooding, and two feet of water also swamped a stretch of Highway 136, the weather service reported. One Chevy Tahoe, a large SUV, got stuck in hail up to its hood, Scotten said.
Krissy Scotten / National Weather Service
Covered in dust, this hail drift measured six feet high on April 12 and was still intact a day after it formed near Dumas, Texas, the National Weather Service said.
The pea-sized hailstones weren't big enough to set any size records, and Scotten said the service doesn't keep records for most hail in a given period.
But Jose Garcia, chief forecaster at the weather service in Amarillo, told msnbc.com it probably wasn't the most hail the region has seen.
"Five to 6 feet deep hail" fell in nearby Dalhart, Texas, in 1993 during a very similar storm, he said. It took almost a month for some roads to reopen as the compact ice melted slowly. "It was almost like huge snow drifts," he said.
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A perfect example of how the Mammoths died, and what mother nature is really capable of...
Those that keep referring to global warming are missing the point. Global warming and global cooling have been happening throughout earth's history, as core samples will show. It's not caused by man, but is a natural phenomenon. Weather records have only been kept since 1880, but the egotists among us think that they control the earth’s weather, instead of the earth controlling us. You can’t fight Mother Nature. Everything is in a constant state of change, and everything is right on schedule. We just don’t know what that schedule is.
Just think back to the plague known as ‘Black Death’ in 1350. That occurred from excessive wet weather that allowed the plague to continue. If they had a normal dry season it would have ended sooner, but the climate change that occurred then allowed it to continue. Or so they say.
NIcodemus --is right. communism and leftists regimes definitely and most infinitely are the cause for most suffering. Humanism and the wish to be completely safe from natural harm disasters and death and making all things "true" and making believe there is no sin or morality is irrelevant is the greatest threat to mankinds future.....Jesus is the Only Way and when read correctly and real discipleship it is not extremism but rather division for those that recognize and confess sin as opposed to those the refuse to see the consequences and the evidence of knowledge of good and evil and despite that a plan of redemption and re creation. It is evident in nature and creatures and the system of this planet earth and the unique placement of earth teeming with life in this solar system and "the lack of any other evidence of life" and people say they are open minded and need evidence for creation yet never question science or the threat of those that have misused science and intermingle it with the imagination which in and of itself proves that we can be other places ( a soul kind of movement) and that life exists beyond the physical realm is definitely conceivable, but with just seeing the creation and existence around you shall not need proof. But with faith more vision of other worlds and and the narrow way and miracles and proof will come from that admittance and that relationship with the Savior and Lord of All that is Life, Jesus Christ. And yes people get it wrong as fallen angels deceive the Great One Almighty Christ a lot, but you can be set free. By receiving the gift anytime anywhere....Repent and enjoy, rejoice and you will be glad you did when you realize the immense grace and forgiveness of God among us. And the hope beyond sight ..He is real..
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
A hail storm does not equate to the end of the world and the coming of Jesus!
What is the purpose of your rant? Are you the Christian of the year or just some future TV evangelist using this weather anomolie as an excuse hoping some unfortunate lost person will give you money?
Your rant has no place in this weather disaster? Read what you wrote! Wake the hell up!
Jerry-759068 ? why did his " rant " rattle you so?
ok.. Lets take this one at a time
1) Drift Hail that is Pushed by wind or water to a low area and builds up--- as many have already posted this is a Low gully area and it is a DRIFT the Firefighter is standing in melting hail.
2) Fence post height on the back ground. that has nothing to do with the Gully the depth of the ditch and hence the drift, but, is it a 12' fence? lets look at the Diameter Vs height from that alone one would have to say no, it is not, but that does not change the FACT that the Hail in this DRIFT is about 4' does it?
So let look at this with some bemusement shall we?
One thing i have noticed is the ignorance of some people that have never been to this area! As one mentioned earlier that indeed the biggest rock in some of this area is pebbles or maybe softball. This is real as the National weather service is a reliable source and will not compromise for a picture for a pile of "rocks". They SEND their own personnel out to verify just like they send their personnel out to photograph tornado damages, etc. Yes, they might come across photos but they will verify before putting their name behind it. This is indeed hail-the areas in Colorado from Pueblo to Denver gets several hailstorms where they have to shut down higways and bring out snow plows to clear. So please if you are just a person with an ID 10 T problem please keep your stupid ignorance to yourself! Like Tator Salad from Texas says "You can't fix Stupid!" By the way if you cannot figure the ID 10 T error take the 5 letters/symbols and write it on a paper all together-also common error on computers!
Some of you people. Sheesh.
The reason that the fence posts in the background are elevated is due to the fact that the firefighter is standing at the base of a small hill. It's not totally flat in the Texas Panhandle. The hail has compacted there just like snow drifts compact and pile up on the face of hills.
If you grew up in that exact area, like I did, you know the difference between the normal everyday scenery and a change in that scenery.
Lastly, the weather service in Amarillo doesn't have to exaggerate the details and/or facts about the weather there. The weather in the Texas Panhandle IS truly THAT extreme.
- Texas Panhandle Native
...but...it's totally cute how the rest of America, who doesn't experience severe weather like this, is in complete disbelief over some hail drifts.
Well the storm was really bad, the person that called the amount of hail in was a sheriff on duty and when he TRYED to stepped out of his SUV it was almost to the top of the door! And it rained so hard and so fast while it was hailing that it washed away part of HWY 287 south bound between Dumas and Amarillo!! Weather is crazy in the panhandle but no we do not exaggerate about it we have very dangerous storms here!! We live here and it is NOT funny to have to sit through one of these storms or to deal with the after math of the events! So to those who thinks its made up and not true I really hope one day you get stuck in a Texas Panhandle storm, then maybe you will think twice before making such remarks!
Exactly, Crystal and Esther!
But then some folks would rather believe that the National Weather Service, the Texas Department of Transportation, Potter County Fire Department, an Amarillo TV station, NBC affiliate KAMR-TV, local snow plow crews, and a local sheriff, all conspired together in an attempt to deceive everyone (even those travelers stuck in this mess) into believing that a storm produced 4 foot hail drifts.
You know, because if you're going to conspire and create a whopper of a story like this one, 4 foot hail drifts in Texas is the most likely conspiracy to concoct. Besides, what else is there to do in this part of Texas on a weekday afternoon, right?
"Hey Sheriff, Bobbi Sue over at the National Weather Service has this great idea for a prank..." :rolleyes:
Even more proof that global warming is a lie. How do liberals manage to sell that bs?
Yeah sure....and that fence in the background just HAPPENED to have floated to the top of the 4 feet of hail? That's not 4 feet of hail...it's a TALL TALE!
What's this I heard that the NAACP said it was about time that we got some dark colored hail.