Hail of a Storm

This year, helmets weren't used for sudden crashes during the Tour of Switzerland. Instead they were for the protecting riders from thousands of hailstones that fell from the sky during the sixth leg of the race.

Severe storms pelted the cyclists with hail, heavy rain and even lightning. Check out rider Filippo Pozzato's (photo right) marks from nature's beating. Ouch! Click here for more photos from the stormy stretch.

Most of the hail during the race was slightly larger than dime size. But as you know, it can come in all shapes and sizes. What's the biggest hailstone ever documented? Well, it is the Coffeyville, Kansas hailstone that fell in 1970.
The hail stone was 1.67 pounds and over 5.5 inches in diameter. The photo (Left) shows the onion-like circles. These layers show how many times the hailstone was pushed back into the storm by an updraft for another coating of ice. While it's difficult to see on smaller stones, you can count the rings to get an indication of the hailstone's history.

DEEPEST HAIL EVENT:
A severe hailstorm on June 3, 1959, at Selden, in northwestern Kansas, left an area measuring 9 by 6 miles (14.4 by 10 km) covered with hailstones to a depth of 18 inches (about 46 cm). The hail fell for 85 minutes and did $500,000 worth of damage, mainly to crops.

HAIL DEATHS:
Hail deaths are rare in the United States. The last known U.S. hail fatality was an infant killed in Fort Collins, Colo., in August 1979.

Learn more about hail formation here.

--Brent

Lightning Kills Florida Man

The following story was in the Miami Herald last week. A good reminder during Lightning Awareness Week. Stay safe out there. -------Robin

By TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE AND LUISA YANEZ

With no rain or even clouds to warn him of the danger, death came literally out of the blue Thursday to a self-employed landscaper. The killer was a powerful bolt of lightning that cracked through perfectly clear skies. David Canales, 41, of West Miami-Dade, was on the job at a Pinecrest home when the bolt hit. It first seared a tree, then traveled and struck Canales, standing nearby. Experts said Canales was killed by a weather phenomenon fittingly called a ''bolt from the blue'' or ''dry lightning'' because it falls from clear, blue skies. He was pronounced dead at South Miami Hospital. Canales is the latest victim of one of Florida's least enviable honors: It's the country's lightning capital. Five of the 47 people killed by lightning across the country last year were in Florida. Dan Dixon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said that when Canales was hit, a typical afternoon storm was forming but nowhere near the area. Weather data showed that lightning activity picked up north of Pinecrest shortly before 1 p.m., as a storm gathered momentum and swept through Coral Gables and then downtown. ''Most lightning will come from the base of a thunderstorm, inside that rain-shaft area,'' Dixon explained. ``But occasionally, what we call a bolt from the blue comes out of a thunderstorm still several miles away.'' The fair-weather bolts pack a bigger, deadlier punch and form differently. Most lightning bolts carry a negative charge, but ''bolts from the blue'' have a positive charge, carry as much as 10 times the current, are hotter and last longer. The bolts normally travel horizontally away from the storm and reach farther than typical lightning, then curve to the ground. This bolt struck the front yard of a home at 10500 SW 62nd Ave. ''My wife said the sky was blue, but the lightning bolt was the most horrible sound she had heard in her life,'' said Clemente Vazquez-Bello, owner of the home where Canales and two workers had come to do landscaping. Startled by the violent sound, Margarita Vazquez-Bello ran to the backyard. The men were not there. Canales' workers were knocking on the front door, seeking help. She dialed 911. Officers with the Village of Pinecrest and Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue arrived at the home. But Canales was in grave condition when transported, said rescue spokesman Lt. Elkin Sierra. The Vazquez-Bellos rushed to South Miami Hospital, where Canales was pronounced dead. Canales' wife, also at the hospital, could not be reached for comment. Vazquez-Bello said Canales was ''a wonderful human being'' and a dependable hard worker. ''We feel terrible about this,'' said Vazquez-Bello, a Miami attorney. Dixon said protecting yourself from such unexpected lightning is difficult. ''They are very unpredictable and very dangerous. We urge people to stay indoors even if you hear thunder only faintly in the distance,'' Dixon said. ``If you're close enough to hear thunder, you're close enough to be struck by lightning.'' Earlier this month, a worker was hospitalized after being struck at a construction site in Miami. Nine people, including three children, were forced out of their Plantation home after a lightning strike caused a fire. There has been at least one fatality in South Florida this year: A person on a roof in Miramar was killed by lightning May 19, Dixon said. It's not the first time in South Florida ''bolts from the blue'' have proven deadly. In August 1988, a Norwegian couple vacationing in South Florida were struck while standing on a Fort Lauderdale beach. Witnesses said the sky was cloudless.
Miami Herald staff writer Penny McCrea and researcher Monika Z. Leal contributed to this report.

ZZZZs Among The Trees

Camping outside can be both fun and educational, especially when the weather is right. This Saturday night nature lovers and the like will be hitting the backyards and campgrounds for the Great American Backyard Campout, sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. It's a one-night event for families, youth and individuals urging folks to camp out in their backyards or local parks and to discover the fun of being in the great outdoors.



Here's a few reminders as you pack your gear:
+Remember to check the radar and forecast before you leave
+Take along a NOAA Weather Radio to keep you informed while outdoors
+Always travel in groups if you will be traveling in unfamiliar areas.
+Leave the wilderness the same, or better than you found it.

A Few Unheard of Tips:
+While the Swiss Army Knife has been popular for years, the Swiss Navy Knife has remained largely unheard of. Its single blade functions as a tiny canoe paddle.

+A potato baked in the campfire coals for one hour makes an excellent side dish. A potato baked in the coals for three hours makes an excellent hockey puck.

+And last, but most importantly, in emergency situations, you can survive in the wilderness by shooting small game with a slingshot made from the elastic waistband of your underwear.

Seriously, I hope you are able to enjoy the great outdoors this weekend. Even if you can't campout, perhaps take a hike to see all that our great environment has to offer.



Happy Camping! --Brent

Breathe A Little Easier

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) monitors levels of ozone and particle pollution from stations around Virginia. Both of these are pollutants, at high levels, may raise health concerns in some people, particularly those with breathing problems such as asthma.

The Roanoke Valley acts as a bowl to trap in tiny particles (soot, dust, smoke, and fumes, burning of coal, oil, diesel, and other fuels). The particles are small enough to enter deep into the lungs and cause health problems. When we get a hot, stagnant air mass with little wind, these particles can stick around for days and days. As the sun’s intensity reaches its maximum during the mid-afternoon, smog levels will peak, then fall rapidly in the evening when the sun goes down. Likewise, increasing winds and steady rain can "clean out" the particles.

What should you do?

• Monitor your local air quality reports (found on the Weather homepage under 'Weather and Health."


• When levels are high, stay inside if you can. Avoid strenuous outdoor activity.


• Avoid the use of any other gasoline engines, such as mowers and other lawn equipment, or boat motors


• Save power by turning off lights and appliances when they are not needed.


• Avoid burning yard debris or brush.

The DEQ will issue Ozone Action Days which mean the air quality will be especially poor. We will pass those bulletins along to you during routine weather segments.

Now you can breathe easier knowing we are thinking about your health.

Heat & Humidity Return

Summer begins this Thursday, June 21; but a summer regime is setting up a few days ahead of the calendar. Monday's highs are forecast around 87-94; which could be good enough to tie or break some local records. Roanoke and Blacksburg have the best chance of recording new record warmth on June 18th.

Remember to check on elderly friends and neighbors during the next few days as the area heats up. Drink plenty of water, and remember your pets! --Jay

Severe Thunderstorms

Have you noticed the cool clouds over our area recently? With the setting sun, the towering cumulus look spectacular. Almost like you were at the beach. In fact, the wind flow for the last week has been from the northeast. This is a little unusual. The atmosphere has been unstable enough to produce severe thunderstorms. Mainly due to large hail. ----- Chief Meteorologist Robin Reed

"When Thunder Roars - Go Indoors"

By now, you've likely heard of the 14-year-old Campbell County boy that was struck and killed by lightning over the weekend. While the teen and a friend were fishing, a storm approached their location. While running to a barn for protection, the boy was struck.

Remember, thunder is nature's warning sign. We often tell local elementary students, "If you're close enough to hear thunder, you're close enough to be struck by lightning." When faced with a storm, seek shelter. Apply the 30/30 rule. If you see lightning, and then hear thunder within 30 seconds, go inside for 30 minutes until the storm passes. Also, know that lightning can strike several miles away from the parent thunderstorm. We call this "A bolt from the blue." Lightning has been known to strike over 25 miles away from the storm it's coming from. In other words, if a storm is in Roanoke, a lightning bolt could hit a place like Smith Mountain Lake, Christiansburg, Fincastle or Rocky Mount.

June 24-30 marks "Lightning Safety Week". To learn more about lightning safety, return to the weather page on wdbj7.com --Jay

That Was Some Storm!

On Tuesday, June 5, 2007 the sky looked like that!
Beginning as a severe thunderstorm warning in Tazewell around 6pm, the hail and wind maker roared east-southeast at 45mph through the Virginia countryside dropping quarter size hail, heavy rain and wind gusts topping 40mph.

As it crossed Bland and Wythe counties, Gary White took this picture. On it marched through Pulaski, Floyd and Franklin. That's where it got really scary. The hail covered the ground causing the temperature to drop so quickly that dense fog formed and literally stopped the traffic on route 220. The next morning, News 7 covered the story of trees crushing houses, cars and power lines as they fell. Amazingly, no one was hurt. However, gardens were destroyed and traffic was slowed. We ran 20 crawls at the top of the screen over a 3 hour period alerting viewers to the type of storm that was rolling through. After the event, a viewer called to say she was never going to watch our station again. She heard the thunder and saw the hail and didn't need us to tell her there was a thunderstorm outside. Sometimes other TV stations do go overboard on their weather coverage. But I can assure you that SkyTracker 7 Weather will always alert you to severe weather events. And this storm was a doozie.

Chief Meteorologist Robin Reed

No Bites From Barry

Wouldn't you know it. Try to take the family on a short vacation and a tropical storm rides the coast. Go figure. The good news is, few are complaining. What could have been a nasty storm, was nothing but relief for farmers and firefighters throughout the south. Wildfires and droughts have been common for several months now and this rain couldn't have come at a better time.

The waves were a bit high today and some odd creatures have washed ashore. Other than that, it looked like an ordinary rainy day along the Grand Strand. Most folks I've talked with here agree, if the rest of the hurricane season is like this, bring it on. The sun should be back tomorrow, as will the beachgoers. Gotta hit the pillow so we can get a great space. Later.

--Brent