Hailstorm v Swimming Pool

May 18, 2010 10:14 AM

Amazing hailstorm video gets really good at about 1:00 and terrifying at about 2:00.
posted by alby (92 comments total)

omg
posted by found missing at 10:17 AM on May 18, 2010 [4 favorites]

I'm loving this in correlation with the Tornado video posted yesterday. I've never been in a tornado or a serious hail storm, and this puts some perspective on what both of those events are like.
posted by codacorolla at 10:20 AM on May 18, 2010

Oh my god. That's insane. I've never seen anything like that!

(Seriously, that was crazy.)
posted by rtha at 10:21 AM on May 18, 2010 [9 favorites]

Holy hell
posted by fire&wings at 10:21 AM on May 18, 2010

That poor little tree in the planter in the foreground took a beating..

I've seen hail storms take out a field of corn in just a few minutes...
posted by HuronBob at 10:23 AM on May 18, 2010

That looks deadly - was anyone seriously injured?
posted by molecicco at 10:24 AM on May 18, 2010

Wow. That is unbelievable.

That said, Dear people shooting video of the amazing and freakish thing that happened to you:

Please try to shut the hell up. You will really wish you had when your video, with its helpless and increasingly moronic repetitions of "OH MY GOD" starts to creep up into the hundreds of thousands of YouTube views. Remember, you can always add some narration later, but when you shit all over the original soundtrack, it's forever.

Thanks!
posted by rusty at 10:24 AM on May 18, 2010 [33 favorites]

Holy shit.
posted by brundlefly at 10:25 AM on May 18, 2010

Our planet is fucking awesome.
posted by Think_Long at 10:25 AM on May 18, 2010 [12 favorites]

That pool becomes like a reverse jacuzzi.
posted by ardgedee at 10:25 AM on May 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

OMFG. I've seen hail storms before but they are still awesome.
posted by Kskomsvold at 10:27 AM on May 18, 2010

Shut up and hold the camera steady. That's really all.
posted by unSane at 10:28 AM on May 18, 2010 [27 favorites]

When I was a kid, we'd put on motorcycle helmets and go out in the hail. Probably would not have been a good idea for this storm.
posted by Xoebe at 10:31 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hell yeah that patio was trashed!
posted by ReeMonster at 10:31 AM on May 18, 2010

I got money down saying it won't be the last time he sees something like that.
posted by Caduceus at 10:32 AM on May 18, 2010

What. The Hail?
posted by hal9k at 10:33 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Our planet is fucking awesome.
That made me LOL.

I miss Oklahoma the weather in Oklahoma. But a few weeks ago I was running in Houston and got caught in a minor hailstorm — maybe dime-sized hail. I got bopped on the head a few times and had to take cover under an overpass and had wallops on my arms for a few days after.

The hail in the video is tennis ball-sized.
posted by Brittanie at 10:36 AM on May 18, 2010

See also: the Socorro hailstorm of 2004.
posted by QuestionableSwami at 10:38 AM on May 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

"Wide spread damage today in the OKC metro primarily from baseball size hail—so far no tornados have been spotted. Living in Oklahoma-the weather in the spring is anything but dull."

Hail on a street and lawn (jump in 30 seconds for things to pick up), raining ping pong balls, destroying an apartment complex (during) and car windows (aftermath).

I didn't see anything baseball sized, but here are some beautiful clouds (available up to 1080p HD)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:40 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Four minute video of repeated OMG and all you get is hail storm?! WTF!?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:42 AM on May 18, 2010

I want to send this to all the people who make jokes about climate change.

My uncle's car was damaged by hail to the point of being totaled. I have always wondered what a storm like that must look like. Now I know!
posted by hermitosis at 10:42 AM on May 18, 2010

BUT HAS HE EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS?
posted by Mapes at 10:43 AM on May 18, 2010 [4 favorites]

FUCK YOUR POOL WHAT ABOUT MY CAR
posted by boo_radley at 10:44 AM on May 18, 2010

I wonder what they did to piss God off so badly?
posted by marxchivist at 10:45 AM on May 18, 2010 [6 favorites]

OKC (& Wu-Tang) aint nothin to mess with. A friend of mine got caught in an ice storm there a few years ago, was stranded for a few days and almost wrecked the car.

damn nature, you scary!
posted by cashman at 10:49 AM on May 18, 2010

You know insurance isn't going to covered the car they forgot to bring inside.

Please try to shut the hell up. You will really wish you had when your video

Amen, and while you're at, hold the damn camera steady! Or set it on a window sill or something.
At least with sound, I can watch muted.
posted by madajb at 10:49 AM on May 18, 2010

Dunno why, but I am reminded of this askme response about how to deal with a boss who doesn't believe the weather can keep you from coming to work.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:51 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Dear people shooting video of the amazing and freakish thing that happened to you:
Please try to shut the hell up.

Shut up and hold the camera steady. That's really all.

That's a little unfair. In my experience, most people's response to getting caught in the middle of a crazily destructive storm like this, after the initial panic of seeking shelter, is to become absolutely giddy. And not just nervous tittering, either. I'm talking uncontrollable, half-crazed fits of hysterical, childlike giggling. Because, really—what else is there to do but laugh when confronted with our own smallness and frailty in the face of something so much bigger and more powerful than us with the disinterested ability to crush us like bugs.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:55 AM on May 18, 2010 [12 favorites]

That guy should be thankful he wasn't out for a run when that stuff hit.
posted by Muddler at 10:55 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

We had a bad hailstorm in our area in 2006. (I shot a video too -- not nearly as dramatic.) I'd say most houses for about a mile around had their roofs replaced. Many cars were totaled out, and you'll still see cars in the area that look like they were hit repeatedly with a ball-peen hammer. Our insurance adjuster was specially assigned -- out of New Orleans, no less.

The biggest hailstone I picked up was 2" in diameter, and most were closer to 1"-1.5". Tennis balls are over 2.5" and baseballs 3". That means these hailstones probably weighed at least 50% more than what we saw. Ye gods, I can't even imagine the damage.
posted by cisko at 10:59 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

It looks like Stripe jumped in the pool.
posted by ooga_booga at 11:00 AM on May 18, 2010 [7 favorites]

I just read an short article somewhere about archaelogical speculation that a hailstorm that might have killed 300 people. Something about a lake of death. I'd post more details but I just drank a brew dog abstrakt:01 and am too impaired to goog.
posted by srboisvert at 11:06 AM on May 18, 2010

That looks pretty deadly. I'm surprised their roof took it.
posted by DU at 11:11 AM on May 18, 2010

Coming from Oklahoma, I remember crazy damn weather, but never hail like this.
I wish I could find a way to post the pics my best friend (who lives in OKC) sent me. In them he has some hail from his yard lying next to common household objects for size comparison.
It really freaked me out.
posted by kaiseki at 11:12 AM on May 18, 2010

Hail freaks me out. Wandering along happy and oblivious and then BAM! Rocks of ICE the size of BASEBALLS come belting your head like God's own dodgeballs.

Oklahoma Weather! Either sweating or screaming.
posted by The Whelk at 11:13 AM on May 18, 2010

Man, you gotta love Wikipedia! They have a page called List of costly or deadly hailstorms.

Here's the skeleton lake you're talking about, drunky.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:14 AM on May 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

make that skeleton lake..
posted by srboisvert at 11:15 AM on May 18, 2010

At the two-minute mark, it stopped looking like a hail storm and began to look like the pool boiling.
posted by Mikey-San at 11:16 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I hope he has his camera with him the next time there's a crazy hail storm.

Oh my God. Oh MY GOD. I've ALREADY seen anything LIKE this! Oh MY GOD!
posted by Auden at 11:19 AM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Twenty minutes later, it was beautiful outside. I'm not kidding.
My part of town got dime size hail. The area I work in got a beating by tennis and baseball size hail, so the parking lot glistens in the sun from all of the broken glass. Lots of denuded trees and ruined roofing. I needed an umbrella indoors at the grocery store from all of the leaks (and probably some wellies, too, for the inch of water on the ground. It was like buying produce at the end of the world.)
I love spring in this state.
posted by Lemmy Caution at 11:19 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Because, really—what else is there to do but laugh when confronted with our own smallness and frailty in the face of something so much bigger and more powerful than us with the disinterested ability to crush us like bugs.

I always used to laugh because big storms are just fun (as long as you're inside at any rate).
That, and because I lived in a rental, so the roof damage wasn't coming out of my budget!
posted by madajb at 11:21 AM on May 18, 2010

DelFest 2009. AKA Hailfest. I was outside in a 20 minute hailstorm holding the tent up to preserve my wife and 1 year old. Ow.
posted by joecacti at 11:26 AM on May 18, 2010

Dear Oklahoma: Carports.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:26 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

marxchivist: I wonder what they did to piss God off so badly?

GOD IS ATTACKING US! HE HATES US FOR OUR FREEDOMS!
posted by hincandenza at 11:35 AM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Amazing video.

Soundtracks can be repaired, but thumb-in-front-of-the-shakeycam-lens is forever.
posted by Western Infidels at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2010

My grandmother was traveling through OKC that day. She mentioned a hail storm but I had no idea it was anything like this! Hailageddon indeed. Pretty cool that these days we can get video from so many different points of view so soon after something happens. I love the web.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2010

"That said, Dear people shooting video of the amazing and freakish thing that happened to you:

"Please try to shut the hell up. You will really wish you had when your video, with its helpless and increasingly moronic repetitions of 'OH MY GOD' starts to creep up into the hundreds of thousands of YouTube views. Remember, you can always add some narration later, but when you shit all over the original soundtrack, it's forever."

Nah, peoples reactions are often the best part, otherwise it comes across as too stale. Look at all the discussion that cropted up in the tornado thread. Though I do wish people would either hold the camera steady (bracing your hand against the window or walls is all it takes) or would set the camera down some where.

"I want to send this to all the people who make jokes about climate change."

Oklahoma has been having hail like this as long as people have been living there; it has nothing to do with climate change.
posted by Mitheral at 11:50 AM on May 18, 2010

When I lived in New Mexico, it seemed like once a year there was a massive hail storm that deposited so much hail it looked like snow and the temperature would drop 20-25 degrees afterward. Fortunately, the ball size was relatively small, so mostly the destruction was limited to golf-ball-dimpled cars.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:53 AM on May 18, 2010

Nature's inhumanity to Man.
posted by Nabubrush at 11:54 AM on May 18, 2010

here's a slightly different video of the same storm: hail
posted by numbskeleton at 12:00 PM on May 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

If you describe past storms as "The STORM NAME of YEAR" your weather isn't that bad.
posted by bjork24 at 12:06 PM on May 18, 2010

I was with a friend from Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon. She was on the phone with Geico the whole time, filing a claim for her two cars that were destroyed by this hailstorm.
posted by kcds at 12:09 PM on May 18, 2010

You know the "heil Hitler" means "hail Hitler"? Coincidence?

Yes, it is.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:10 PM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Dear Oklahoma: Carports.

Or as they are known in Oklahoma: Trailer Sails
posted by Pollomacho at 12:10 PM on May 18, 2010 [6 favorites]

One hail of a storm!
posted by jewzilla at 12:11 PM on May 18, 2010

Atom Eyes: I don't mean to call anyone out -- I was noting it for myself, in a "hey self, if you ever happen to find yourself behind a camera in amazing circumstances, try to shut up!" way. And I thought it might be useful to mention it to others. Forewarned is forearmed! Just doing my little bit for a future filled with slightly better youtube videos.
posted by rusty at 12:23 PM on May 18, 2010

Weather like that is god telling you to move.
posted by lkc at 12:36 PM on May 18, 2010

Our planet is fucking awesome

Boom di-ya-da, boom di-ya-da, boom di-ya-da, boom di-ya-da...
posted by schoolgirl report at 12:38 PM on May 18, 2010 [6 favorites]

Oh my god. That's insane. I've never seen anything like that!

The guy is in Oklahoma, for pete's sake. You guys were expecting a soliloquy?
posted by crunchland at 12:47 PM on May 18, 2010

Weather like that is god telling you to move.

You say "tornado", we say "earthquake". Everyone's got their own special flavor of natural risk event.
posted by norm at 1:02 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I swear I posted that comment before checking where you live, lkc.

xox
posted by norm at 1:03 PM on May 18, 2010

The guy is in Oklahoma, for pete's sake. You guys were expecting a soliloquy?

Well now I reckon they do allow at least some folks to get that fancy school learnin' these days, even in Oklahoma. But I don't reckon they have classes like Eloquence In The Face Of Natural Disasters 101 in those primitive schools in Oklahoma. Surely, if this storm had happened in a more sophisticated place, the youtube videos would have live narration like:

"Well, this is quite an amazing phenomenon we're witnessing, is it not? It brings to mind the storm of arrows Zhuge Liang provoked Wei soldiers into launching before the Battle of Chibi. Oh what wonderous things Gaia does."

(And now this Longhorn hopes it's the last time he has to stick up for a damn Oklahoman for a while.)
posted by kmz at 1:05 PM on May 18, 2010 [13 favorites]

There I was hoping someone would say "take me back to Kansas" and all we got was "Oh my GOD! OH my God! Oh MY God!"

Amateurs, I tells ya.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:12 PM on May 18, 2010

destroying an apartment complex

No hyperbole there. And ... why is it that ping-pong balls became tennis balls when it rains?
posted by Twang at 1:14 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Dear Oklahoma: Carports.

The thing about carports is they make really good sails when the winds kick up.
Also, they are difficult to remove from your car without causing more damage.

I imagine you can guess how I know this.
posted by madajb at 1:17 PM on May 18, 2010

Oh HAIL no!
posted by The Bellman at 1:27 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

> The guy is in Oklahoma, for pete's sake. You guys were expecting a soliloquy?

What? No! It made me laugh because I watched the first little bit of the video without sound (too lazy to get my earbuds), and while I was watching I was thinking Oh my god! That's insane! I was saying holy shit a lot too and when I finally listened to the sound, well, there he was saying what I'd been saying.
posted by rtha at 1:33 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I am really not hearing enough "Damn Nature, you scary!" so I'll go ahead and say it again:

"Damn Nature, you scary!"
posted by Polyhymnia at 1:38 PM on May 18, 2010

I can't look at this pool boiling without thinking about the Liquid Mountaineering hoax and wondering how they're doing it.
posted by Jon-A-Thon at 1:45 PM on May 18, 2010

Dear Oklahoma: Carports.

Most Okies actually have garages, not carports. Betcha this week you can find some good deals on brand new, slightly damaged cars there though.

No hyperbole there. And ... why is it that ping-pong balls became tennis balls when it rains?

IANAMeteorologist, but my understanding is that during most hail storms there is extremely strong wind in the higher levels of the atmosphere. That wind actually pushes falling raindrops upwards, where they freeze. Then they fall again and get pushed up again, another layer gets frozen onto then, ad nauseum. The windier it is, the bigger the hail, which is why hailstorms are often associated with tornadoes. If you cut a hailstone in half, you can actually see all the layers, like an onion. If you looks at these videos it is really windy on the surface.

And, because this game is effing awesome... previously on Metafilter, Effing Hail.
posted by Brittanie at 2:25 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

The guy is in Oklahoma, for pete's sake. You guys were expecting a soliloquy?

Is a rendition of Surry with a Fringe on Top too much to ask?
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:25 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's like that one level on Jumpman.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:32 PM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Is a rendition of Surry with a Fringe on Top too much to ask?

When I take you got tonight with me
Oh honey people how we'll flee.

We'll might need to hide with the armed forces...
waitin' out the worse storm we've ever seen.

Cats and ducks and geese gonna scurry
when the hail comes down in a hurry
posted by The Whelk at 2:43 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I miss spring in Oklahoma. Spring weather in Florida is never this entertaining -- and people here certainly don't have drinking games for their weathermen.
posted by ThatSomething at 4:09 PM on May 18, 2010

Think_Long: "Our planet is fucking awesome."

You can sing it, bit Discovery Channel will never air it during a commercial.

Still, would love to hear it in an outtake sung by Adam Savage.
posted by bwg at 4:18 PM on May 18, 2010

bit = but = damn typos ....
posted by bwg at 4:18 PM on May 18, 2010

29 March 2000 The last known hail fatality in the United States occurs. The victim was Juan Oseguera, a nineteen-year-old man who died from head injuries after being hit by a softball sized hailstone in Lake Worth, Texas. This was the same storm that produced the Great Fort Worth Tornado of March 2000. I was in the middle of it all, and at no time did I say, "Oh my God, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE!!" But, then again, I was not a 16 year old with a video camera and a swimming pool living on a golf course.
posted by Senator at 5:57 PM on May 18, 2010

In response, God had this to say:

"For fuck's sake, WHAT IS IT YOU WANT? Can't you see I'm practicing for Armageddon here? So why is it you're so desperately trying to get my attention for?! Oh, and P.S. the reason I gave you an inner ear was so that you could tell when your head was on crooked. Use that the next time you decide to film me when I'm working."
posted by quin at 6:01 PM on May 18, 2010

destroying an apartment complex

Who ever said 'vinyl is final'?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 6:45 PM on May 18, 2010

Shut up and hold the camera steady. That's really all.

Because when something awesome and amazing happens, you're not supposed to be experiencing it, you're supposed to be recording it. You can experience it later sitting on your couch watching the video, the way cool stuff is supposed to be experienced.

If something cool happens, don't just stand there looking at it. Keep your eyes on the tiny little screen on your gadget to make sure it's centered, focused, and steady.

/HAMBURGER

Screw you and screw everyone who thinks we should be photographers first and human beings second.
posted by straight at 7:31 PM on May 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

The biggest hailstone I picked up was 2" in diameter, and most were closer to 1"-1.5". Tennis balls are over 2.5" and baseballs 3". That means these hailstones probably weighed at least 50% more than what we saw. Ye gods, I can't even imagine the damage.

Yer math is wrong!

If your hailstones were 2" and these were 3", then these weighed 3/2^3, that is three-halves cubed as much - that is, over three times as much.

A 3" hailstone weighs 27 times as much as a 1" hailstone - because it's three times bigger in each of three dimensions. In fact, 3" hailstone weighs just over 4 pounds(*).

Such is the power of volume.

(* - in that calculation, I convert into metric and back because I know that 1 cubic centimeter of water weighs almost exactly one gram...)
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:54 PM on May 18, 2010

Because when something awesome and amazing happens, you're not supposed to be experiencing it, you're supposed to be recording it.

In this case, you should! It's useful information and interesting to boot. Why not?

But regardless - you shouldn't be talking over it!

I've had friends like that. "Wow, listen to the rain! And that thunder! That was close. Is the rain getting louder?" You want to throttle them. "Yes, if you'd shut up I'd listen to the rain."
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:56 PM on May 18, 2010

Oh my god.

I am not getting in a goddamn ditch.

Thank you to the guy who posted the Youtube video for disabling comments. Nothing good can come of it.
posted by intermod at 8:55 PM on May 18, 2010

Yeah, Lupus, you're right. I should have realized that my answer didn't make sense.

For what it's worth, I had the right formula, I just committed sins against the calculator. And didn't write anything down. (sad face)
posted by cisko at 9:02 PM on May 18, 2010

cisko: well, if you hadn't I'd never have worked out that a 3" sphere of ice weighs 4 pounds...

and got it wrong... because I just realized that ice is, DOH, lighter than water - about 92% as heavy as water, and I'll bet hailstones are even less dense because of air pockets.

Say 3.5 pounds! still, getting hit by multiple 3.5 pound objects at terminal velocity would probably be the end of you....
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:11 PM on May 18, 2010

Brittanie is essentially correct on how hail forms. The strong upper level winds and lots of buoyancy help generate winds that rise vertically called updrafts. Large hail of at least baseballs usually requires updrafts of 80 mph or greater, which is possible in supercell thunderstorms. You can see an example of the layers inside a large hailstone here.

There was at least one person caught out in the hail. Fortunately he didn't take any head hits and was picked up by a passerby.

Cars usually take the brunt of the hail. My car was totaled by the insurance company last year, but since it was cosmetic damage, I have kept driving it. However, if this was my car I would have let them just tow it away.

It'll be interesting to see what is the final tally for damages. Not just cars, but a lot of house damage also.
posted by weathergal at 9:13 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's always amazed me that people willingly live in places where storms (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc) like these occur. I'd like to think that if I lived in a location like that, I'd move. But then again, I don't, so maybe I wouldn't. Scary stuff...
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 11:11 PM on May 18, 2010

TurquoiseZebra, if your profile is correct, you live in a state which periodically catches fire.

I lived just about 100 miles south of you for 5 years, and we regularly got nasty hail in the late summer.

I now live in an area where the weather is considered by many to be among the most gentle climates on earth. We also had a tsunami scare a couple of months back and there's an active volcano a couple of islands over.

When I lived in Boston, even, we got the occasional ice storm or terrible blizzard or what have you.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, once you cross off everywhere that gets tornadoes, hurricanes, brush fires, mud slides, earthquakes, etc, etc, etc ... where exactly are you going to go?
posted by kyrademon at 4:08 AM on May 19, 2010

I guess Fever Ray was in town?
posted by schyler523 at 7:21 AM on May 19, 2010

Amazing hailstorm video gets really good at about 1:00 and terrifying jittery at about 2:00.

Fixed that for you.
posted by atbash at 8:49 AM on May 19, 2010

yeah, insurance adjusters love hail (not). I was licensed in Oklahoma and had to get my claim approval limit raised over $100,000 right away just because of car dealership hail claims. I think my biggest one was like $500k, couple hundred jackets, just a ludicrous stack of folders with a huge rubber band around it. But the best was municipalities, clobbering an entire police fleet. Unless they're brand new, Crown Vics and Caprices aren't worth the cost to push them off a cliff, so there are cities all over the Great Plains riding their whole police fleets on salvage titles, acne-riddled cars with half-repaired PDR scars.
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:15 AM on May 19, 2010

We had a hail storm a few years back that caused insurance claims all over the city...but mostly just on missing roof tiles and siding with holes in it. I happened to be looking out into the back yard before it happened, and while it was an overcast night, it wasn't raining.

I heard something that sounded to me like a bunch of semi trucks coming down the highway. I couldn't figure out what that sound might be, but the first thing that came to mind was a carnival on the move. And then, like a wall of white, the hail came within view. I hustled the kids inside and we all watched as the deck of the back of the house got banged up pretty badly.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:06 AM on May 20, 2010