(ETH) – We are learning that a powerful thunderstorm that took place two years ago in Argentina may have potentially set a world record with the largest hail ever produced according to a new report from Fox News. A team of researchers from Penn State University investigating the Feb. 8, 2018, storm in Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province, Argentina, discovered that one hailstone measured a stunning 7.4 and 9.3 inches across and was considered “gargantuan” hail.
“It’s incredible,” Matthew Kumjian, associate professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmosphere Science at Penn State, stated in a news release. “This is the extreme upper end of what you’d expect from hail.”
“Hailstones are formed when raindrops are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere and freeze,” according to the NSSL. “Hailstones then grow by colliding with liquid water drops that freeze onto the hailstone’s surface.”
Hailstones that fall at speeds up to 100 mph can damage aircraft, homes, and cars, and also be deadly to livestock and people. The previous world record belonged to a hailstone that measured 8 inches across, or about the size of a volleyball that fell near Vivian, S.D., on July 23, 2010. According to the NOAA’s National Climate Extremes Committee, it also was the heaviest ever recorded in the U.S., weighing 1 pound, and 15 ounces.
Researchers from Penn State stated in their official report that any hail that is larger than 6 inches should be classified as “gargantuan.” These researchers investigated the sites where the damage occurred collecting data and analyzed radar observations. The researchers took measurements from photographs and videos, and afterward, scientists concluded that one hailstone may have set a world record.
