Well, this is a terrifying video.
Shared on the Instagram account Nature Is Metal, the video appears to show three people stuck in a car attempting to shield themselves from “grapefruit sized” hailstones raining down on their vehicle.
Those sheltering inside the car assumed “duck and cover” positions as the hail busted through the car’s windshield and windows. One of the individuals can even be seen protecting their head with a back pack in order to shield themselves from the flying glass and debris.
The caption on the post reveals that this storm occurred close to the Canadian city of Alberta and lasted almost a quarter of an hour:
“This storm, which occurred on August 2nd, 2022 in the vicinity of Calgary Alberta, lasted roughly 15 minutes, although the people inside this car understandably claimed it felt much longer than that.”
I’m sure that 15 minutes went by like the last 15 minutes of calculus class.
Top 5 List of Things that Would Make 15 Minutes Feel Like an Eternity? Sure why not.
5) The Last 15 Minutes of School as a Kid
4) Trying to Run a Mile
3) Waiting in Line at the DMV
2) That Hail Storm in the Video
1) Having to Sit Through a Florida Georgia Line Concert
Now back to the horrifying hail video…
The post goes on to explain the process of hail forming and what atmospheric conditions had to occur in order for these record breaking hailstones to accumulate.
According to the caption, the August storm:
“Produced the largest hailstone ever recorded (in Canada). The stone measured 125 millimeters in diameter (4.84 inches) and weighed 292.71 grams (10.3 ounces).”
Seems like it would be difficult for Mother Nature to brew up a storm that produces hail larger than that, but the caption includes a piece of information about the United States’ record for largest hail:
“The hailstone that set the US record fell in Vivian, South Dakota, on July 23, 2010. It measured 8 inches (20.32 cm) in diameter, 18.62 inches (47.3 cm) in circumference, and weighed 1.94 pounds (0.88 kg).”
Imagine a “1.94 pound” hailstone? I think at that point the meteorologists would start running out of spherical references like “golf ball sized” and “grapefruit sized.” I guess I will mark Alberta, Canada and Vivian, South Dakota off of my list of “Potential Places to Live.”
Would be too much to make a “hail no” joke?
Yes it would, I regret it immediately…
