7 News Belize

What The Hail?
posted (April 28, 2011)
It's dry and hot all over the country right now, but residents of the Cayo district experienced a hail storm this afternoon!

Those we spoke to say the morning was intensely hot and then this afternoon after three, areas from Georgeville to San Ignacio and beyond reported that there was a powerful thunderstorm. Apart from massive gusts and powerful bolts of lightning, there was a 20 minute hail storm. Many residents thought their homes were being stoned, but when they looked out, they saw hail stones the size of marbles.

The MET service is calling it a strong thunderstorm that first showed up on their radar coming down from the Maya Mountains at around 1:30. And what caused the hail? Well, the technical explanation is that there was a strong updraft which took moisture particles in the clouds high into the atmosphere where they formed ice particles. And then the downdraft brought them down as hail.

According to the radar, the system was spotted at 3:15 just north of Belmopan approaching San Ignacio and Benque from the east. By four pm it was moving along the border going west.

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