And now for a quick look at your local weather...

[Friends just call me Ross]

Here, in the heart of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it was 44 degrees

when I woke up this morning.

 

It was 85 when I left the Kingdom Hall in Munising, around noon.

 

It is now 4:24pm and it's 93 degrees here, in Trenary,

with super high humidity.  

 

That's a pretty drastic change of 49 degrees.   

 

Ahhh, the joys of living between two of the Great Lakes.  

[Friends just call me Ross]

Was researching World Record for Hailstone size: 

 

Wikipedia info on World Record Hailstones:

Heaviest : 1.0 kg (2.25 lb); Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, 14 April 1986.

Largest diameter officially measured : 8.0 inches (20 cm) diameter, 18.625 inches (47.3 cm) circumference; Vivian, South Dakota, 23 July 2010.

Largest circumference officially measured : 18.75 inches (47.6 cm) circumference, 7.0 inches (18 cm) diameter; Aurora, Nebraska, 22 June 2003.

and came across this info on Megacryometeors:

:

 

http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/chunks-ice-fall-sky/

 

 

Huge Chunks of Ice Fall From The Sky

 

A strange phenomenon seems to be occurring all around the world, in which large chunks of ice are falling from the clear blue sky. Certainly not a frequent event, but perplexing nonetheless. Unlike ball-lightning, the Lockness Monster and Big Foot, this phenomenon has been well documented with pictures and insurance reports time and time again.

 

Megacryometeor is a term used to describe a large block of ice that seemingly falls from the atmosphere under clear sky conditions. Just how large is large? Most have weighed between 25 to 35 pounds but one found in Brazil weighed an incredible 440 pounds! That’s big enough to leave a 10-foot hole in the ground, smash the roof of a Ford Mustang, and make whooshing noises audible enough to be heard by people hundreds of feet away.

 

It’s not a question if they exist. There are countless reports and documented proof from all around the world that huge blocks of ice are falling from the sky. The more appropriate question is, how do they form and under what conditions? These questions have been addressed by many different theories, but none have conclusively proven anything as of yet.

 

One possibility is that ice forms on some part of a high flying jet aircraft which becomes dislodged, then falls to the ground as a large chunk of ice. A jet flying at 35,000 feet with a speed of 500 mph will be a good 20 to 30 miles away before the chunk of ice hits the ground below. Those witnessing one of these events may never connect the jet to the ice chunk. Strangely, or perhaps not, the ice that does fall is entirely made of water with no other contaminants to suggest it came from the aircraft’s lavatory. With several of these megacryometeor events, the FAA has checked their flight records and found no aircraft in the vicinity, which implies the ice must have come from someplace else. However, large ice chunks have fallen from the sky in the flight paths of local airports which some say does set a precedence. Is the FAA holding back the truth for fear of liability lawsuits and the millions of dollars they would have to spend in trying to prevent or eliminate megacryometeors from forming? What about military aircraft that may have been in the area and had their flight paths kept secret?

 

Meteorologists say these chunks of ice are not weather related. Even though the megacryometeors share similar textural, hydro-chemical and isotopic features of large hailstones, meteorologists say even the largest of the supercell thunderstorms — those responsible for creating the largest hailstones and tornadoes — could never produce chunks of ice this large. The updrafts required to grow hailstones into 25 pound chunks of ice, not to mention 440 pounds, would be impossible here on Earth. In the Midwest, it’s not uncommon to get hailstones the size of baseballs or even softballs which is remarkable in itself, but nothing the size of what’s been falling all around the world.

 

Not to mention the record setting grapefruit-sized hail that fell in North Dakota back on June 22, 2003 yet even those stones only weighed about 1.7 pounds; nowhere near the size of these documented megacryometeors. Further yet, most recorded megacryometers fell when there were no clouds present.

 

Another theory suggests that the large chunks of ice could be the result of atmospheric changes caused by global warming. Ice chunks have fallen from the sky in Africa, England, Brazil, United States, Spain, China and many other places which suggests there are no localized conditions conducive to megacryometeor formation. One of the most bizarre incidents happened in Spain where in January of 2000, 6 lb chunks of ice fell from the sky over a period of 7 days (Source: Sciencemag.org). The atmosphere is a very complex system and changes in one variable can have profound consequences throughout the whole system. If this is the case, ice is now forming in parts of the atmosphere where it hasn’t in the past.

 

The chance of them being extraterrestrial in origin is highly unlikely. Their isotopic-signature matches that of terrestrial based water found on Earth. Comet ice usually has lots of trapped gases, a different isotopic-signature, and other pollutants such as dust and iron of which the megacryometeors are lacking. Though they can leave relatively large craters when they smash into the ground, they most certainly do not appear to be from outer space.

 

Whatever the cause, various sized chunks of ice appear to be falling from the sky all around the world. A Mercedes-Benz dealership in Brazil was the unlucky winner of the refrigerator-sized 440 pound chunk that crashed through their roof. A Ford Mustang in Florida was the runner-up when a 100 pound chunk completely caved in the roof of the car — police are not investigating the incident as a criminal act. After all, how do you quietly and secretly hoist a 100 pound chunk of ice high enough to destroy a car in a quiet city neighborhood without being seen or heard? Or how do you get a 50 pound chunk of ice to crash through the roof of a home, like 78-year-old Jan Kenkel had happen to her when she found insulation, bits of wood and a block of ice beside her TV?

 

Just how big can these things get and who’s next?

 

To date, no one knows what’s creating these large chunks of ice. Maybe it’s the combination of a changing atmosphere due to global warming which increases water vapor at higher elevations under certain conditions that causes ice to form on aircraft which then becomes dislodged and falls to the ground? Only time will tell what is causing these large chunks of ice to fall from the sky, but until then I’m sure we will continue to hear about, and maybe see, chunks of ice falling from the blue sky.

 

       

 

 

No wonder they are called meteors of ice.  

They blast through roofs and leave craters.   

[MizPeg]

Wow! My little family camped in the Upper Peninsula, for quite a few summers, and were never hit by any of those. The Michigan state bird was our biggest enemy. LOL                   

[kejedo]

Hot day, but intermittent heavy rain. We could see it coming down like crazy from one side of KH, but bone dry on the other side. Tomorrow is  predicted to be in 90s, but feel like a 100 plus. I will go out in service in the am with water and one or two inhalers. 

Edited July 27, 2015 by kejedo

[Qapla]

Pauline that sounds like typical florida weather

[pnutts]

Wow! My little family camped in the Upper Peninsula, for quite a few summers, and were never hit by any of those. The Michigan state bird was our biggest enemy. LOL                   

Seagull? Whitewash in your eye? Don't scratch at your eye with your hook, you old pirate.

[MizPeg]

Seagull? Whitewash in your eye? Don't scratch at your eye with your hook, you old pirate.

Michigan is noted for it's wildlife, which includes a variety of hawks, who are meat eaters. I wonder if the seagulls taste like chicken?    

[RaymondG]

It's bad enough that people are saying global warming is a slow and definite process over decades, now they want to foist the blame for huge hailstones on it!

We recently had our first snow in 31 years. Apparently it happens here every 30 years whether we want it or not...

Oh yes, it was driven by a huge westerly wind...

[kejedo]

Pauline that sounds like typical florida weather

I lived in Florida twice in my life. An anointed brother was in our hall for a while (a Walkill Bethelite.) Last night was his farewell to our cong. He is heading to Miami to help with the building work.  

Edited July 31, 2015 by kejedo

[CHecker]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/07/31/fish-kills-hot-water-pacific-northwest/30949551/

 

Our local weather is so bad. The Pacific NW- Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho & Montana- even up to the beaches, are in severe drought. Water restrictions, wells going dry, things just drying up- and there's no rain in the near future. My sis-in-law in Oregon is choking from fires from Northern California, and there's a lot of them. From Southern California way through Canada and into Alaska.

I guess, from the news, Alaska didn't really have a winter, almost no snow! In WA/OR there was no snow pack to rely on either. Warmest winter since the dust bowl of the '30's. If I'm not mistaken this is our 3rd (?) year of drought conditions. I remember back in the 70's we had a number of years like this too.

This weekend was predicted to be cloudy and in the low 70's, on my way home at 10:30 it was already 75 and shining brightly. Being in the NW we are accustomed to rain, not all the time but enough. Well we haven't had any measurable  rain in.....oh what did they say....70 days?

Here's a little bit from NOAA, explaining, from Seattle's standpoint, the weather and the warm water. I found this interesting.

http://www.komonews.com/weather/blogs/scott/Why-has-it-been-so-warm-so-long-This-picture-says-1000-words-318245281.html

[Tortuga]

Here is a current map of the California fires.

 

[kejedo]

Here is a current map of the California fires.

 

Calif Fires 2015.JPG

Mucho caliente, verdad?

[Tortuga]

Mucho caliente, verdad?

 

Si, mucho caliente.

 

Last week it was 107F, today it is around 90F. There are fires all around us but they are all far enough away that we are only getting a little smoke and ash.

[CHecker]

Why is the word 'weather' highlighted? I didn't do that. Is it a new thing?

[bobby]

hot and windy and some of those fires are in the next county and i can see all the smock 

[Tortuga]

hot and windy and some of those fires are in the next county and i can see all the smock 

 

Spock + Smoke = Smock....it's all good 

[CHecker]

Spell check can be a nemesis! 

[CHecker]

Why is the word 'weather' highlighted? I didn't do that. Is it a new thing?

And now it isn't. Weird.

[Tortuga]

Here is the current fire map for California.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zp8nK_5H0MFQ.kzTmU5XK-qJQ&hl=en

[CHecker]

Sister-in-law in Southern Oregon sent pics of the air in the community. So bad, heavy with smoke.

Yesterday the sunrise at our place on the beach looked different. A smokey hazy orangish look. All day outside looked orangish. Wondering if it's because there's so much smoke in the upper atmosphere from Canada down to S. Cal.. Has to be. 

[Tortuga]

Sister-in-law in Southern Oregon sent pics of the air in the community. So bad, heavy with smoke.

Yesterday the sunrise at our place on the beach looked different. A smokey hazy orangish look. All day outside looked orangish. Wondering if it's because there's so much smoke in the upper atmosphere from Canada down to S. Cal.. Has to be. 

 

Hey, we want our smoke back, it has evaporated water in it and we need all the water we can get! 

[RaymondG]

Yes, that's what smoke does...

We often see that with bushfires here.

[tekmantwo]

Spell check can be a nemesis!

Clever...don't think many got it...maybe Khan did?

[Tortuga]

Clever...don't think many got it...maybe Khan did?

 

I thought she was pretty enterprising...

[Qapla]

If we keep getting rain I will have to put a boat motor on the back of my truck.