A compact piece of hail with a maximum width greater than 23 centimeters was in the Argentine city of Villa Carlos Paz, in the province of Córdoba, on February 8, 2018.
In this way, as a study published in the Bulletin of the AMS (American Meteorological Society) points out, we are facing a size record.
Meteorological phenomenon
Hail typically occurs during severe storms, which produce strong and sustained updrafts.
The record so far belongs to a 20.32-wide hailstone, or about the size of a volleyball, that landed near Vivian, South Dakota, so this new piece far outstrips it .
For the new study, the researchers tracked the accounts a year later, interviewing witnesses, visiting damage sites, collecting photogrammetric data and analyzing radar observations.
They also made use of photogrammetry (taking measurements from photographs) and video evidence. The storm in highly populated Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina, offered scientists a rare opportunity to study a well-documented case of gigantic hail.