Dear Tom,
You recently told us that softball-sized hail recently fell in Minnesota. What is the largest hail that has been observed?
Peggy Richards
Dear Peggy,
Unofficial world weather records indicate that hailstones up to nearly 10″ in diameter have been reported in portions of China and Bangladesh, but these reports have never been substantiated. One report from Bangladesh talks of pumpkin-sized hail, but no diameter is given (and pumpkins vary con-siderably in size).
In this country, the largest reported hailstone fell four years ago at Aurora in south-central Nebraska, measuring about 7 inches in diameter. That hailstone supplanted the long-famous 5.6″ diameter Coffeyville, Kan., hailstone that reigned as this nation’s hail-size champ for nearly 33 years since it fell on Sept. 3, 1970.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
