Hail

Sunshine turned to hail in an instant this afternoon. What was a beautiful, July day became an amazing hailstorm in a matter of minutes this afternoon. I know storms like this happen all the time in other parts of the U.S., but it is a rare occurrence up here in the Pacific Northwest.

This view of our patio table taken from the safety of our patio shows the magnitude of the storm. The ?bumps? in the table are hail and the ?fireworks? in the dark areas are the raindrops bouncing off the table. It was quite the gully washer as they say out west. After about 20 minutes of solid rain, that caused rivers to run down our street?s gutters, the cell passed and sunshine returned, though the temperature had dropped at good ten degrees.