Hailstorms and Hailstones of the Western 



Great Plains' 



By Vincent J. Schaefer 



State University College of Education 

 Albany, N.Y. 



[With 8 plates] 



During the evening of June 27, 1959, the region of Grand Island, 

 Nebr., was ravaged by a very severe hailstorm. The intensity of 

 the storm, including wind, lightning, rain, and hail, was of the degree 

 which has given this area of the Great Plains the dubious reputation 

 for having some of the worst hailstonns in the world. 



The storm displayed its greatest intensity between the hours of 

 2120 and 2200 in the region irmnediately north of Grand Island. The 

 losses, estimated at greater than $5 million in the Hall County area 

 alone, consisted of damage to crops, buildings, homes, automobiles, 

 and aircraft. So many windows were broken that all local supplies 

 of glass were depleted, requiring emergency shipments from Omaha. 

 The windshields of hundreds of automobiles were shattered as shown 

 in plate 1, figure 1. A newly reconditioned Convair aircraft parked 

 at the Grand Island airport was dented and windows were broken as 

 shown in plate 1, figure 2. According to local news reports, the 

 anemometer used by the Federal Aviation Administration was blown 

 away as it recorded a wind velocity of 80 miles an hour. Plate 2, 

 figure 2, illustrates the damage done to a 3-cup anemometer at the 

 airport, and plate 2, figure 1, some of the hail remaining on the ground 

 the next morning. 



The most damaging hail was reported along a strip 5 miles wide and 

 some 30 miles long. The storm w^as reported to have developed so 

 quickly and moved so fast that there was insufficient time to give ade- 

 quate warning. The hail phase of the storm developed between Ea- 

 venna and Cairo, and moved rapidly eastward through the Boelus 

 area, going almost to Central City. At Boelus, a tornado was reported. 



Much damage occurred in Cairo, Nebr., with most of the broken 



1 Reprinted by permission from Nublla, vol. 3, No. 1, Verona, Italy, 1960. 



341 



