By Gabrielle Beechert
https://www.dallasnews.com
A severe thunderstorm over the Texas Panhandle on Sunday produced what could be the largest hail in the state’s history.
Val and Amy Castor, storm chasers for News 9 in Oklahoma City, found the hail on the side of a Texas road in Swisher County. Val Castor posted photos to social media comparing the hail to a 6 inch Monster Energy can.
News 9 meteorologist David Payne posted a video Monday stating the hail measured 7.25 inches. The record for largest hail circumference in Texas is 6.4 inches from an April 2021 storm in Hondo.
However, Marissa Pazos, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Lubbock, said the NWS cannot confirm that this hail has broken the state record.
To confirm that stone is record breaking, a climate team with the NWS must examine the chunk. However, Pazos said the hail that Castor photographed was not saved, so the NWS must work with a 3D printing company to reconstruct the dimensions of the stone — such as volume, diameter and circumference — based on the photographs.
“These chasers are very valued members of the weather community, and trustworthy, so there’s no reason why we don’t think it’s real. It’s just a matter of now we have to prove it, you know, like any other record,” Pazos said.
If the hail is confirmed as the largest hail in the state’s history, Pazos said the NWS will make a more public announcement.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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