Crazy Hail

What happened in Seattle on Tuesday? It was absolutely bonkers! 15 blocks to the south of us there was a storm. 30 blocks to the north of us there was some hail. Then there was what happened on our block. That’s not rain falling from the sky.

It hailed for – and I am not exaggerating – nearly 30 minutes. The video above was taken about 10 minutes into the storm. Here is the aftermath:

What is going on? Why did we get so much hail where I live and not much south and north of us? The Convergence Zone. The topography of Seattle combined with the Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains make for a very unique weather system. This image, shamelessly stolen from Cliff Mass’ weather blog, which is alway interesting, gives a great illustration of how the convergence zone works. Then there is the individual topography of Seattle and its varied elevations.

convergence zone

 

See that red dashed line? Our house is on that line.