South Dakota is harsh territory. Bad winters, hot summers, tornadoes, and other tough conditions lead to a tough, outdoorsy people. That said, even veteran outdoorsmen like rancher Leslie Scott can see something they’ve never seen before. It’s a hailstone that measures eight inches across and weighs just under two pounds! That’s a US record, and that’s not even as big as the stone was!
When it first landed, Scott says it was nearly a foot in diameter, but that he was delayed in getting it into the freezer because the storm knocked out power and disabled the freezer. Even the slightly melted stone is an incredible record! The stone fell during a storm in Vivian, South Dakota, on July 23, but has just now been verified as a legitimate hailstone and as a record-breaking block of ice that fell from the sky.
Tags: weather, unusual weather phenomenon, giant hailstones, hail, Vivian, South Dakota, Leslie Scott, unusual hailstones, weird weather, hailstone breaks US record