Hail still has not melted in 40'C heat.
Something not adding up here. This is wierd!
Slow-melting hail is unusual but not unprecedented, says BOM forecaster Dean Narramore. Well I would like to understand why 25+'C ground temp is not able to melt ice two weeks later. Temps even up to 40C and still not melted!
BOM are not fussed by it.
Any comments on this
More than a fortnight since a hailstorm swept through central Queensland, a farmer was surprised to discover the ice on parts of his property had still not melted.
Cattle producer Jack Walker found hailstones buried under dirt and debris on the outskirts of his farm near Theodore after the storm on October 11.
"We noticed the hail wasn't melting so we've watched the hail and two weeks later it's still there in places," he said.
"We were just thinking 'wow' — I haven't got an esky that good that I can put ice in and keep it for two weeks."
Mr Walker said the mass of debris and ice had knocked down his flood fences as it swept several kilometres from the mountains down a creek.
Since then, the region has experienced hot and sunny weather, with temperatures reaching close to 40 degrees Celsius.
"It doesn't seem to matter if it's in full sun or partially shaded, there's still hail there," Mr Walker said.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore said the slow-melting ice was an unusual phenomenon.
"It's a pretty impressive event — it's pretty rare but it does happen occasionally," he said.
He said it occurred when large volumes of hail accumulated on creek or riverbanks, allowing the ice to "clump together" and mix with other debris.
"The debris protects it from the heat and amazingly it almost acts like a fridge or freezer where you close the door and it keeps the cold in," Mr Narramore said.
"It can take quite a few weeks — which is amazing in the 40C heat — to slowly melt out."
The hailstorm also broke windows and flyscreens at Mr Walker's home and damaged a car, although the hail immediately around his house melted within a day.
"There's a lot of dead birds around, dead snakes, rabbits, some kangaroos and things like that — the normal event of a hail storm," Mr Walker said.
The farmer said he was finding novel ways to make the most of the long-lasting hailstones.
"I actually put a pretty flash bottle of champagne there, but my wife said we're not allowed to drink that until we get decent rain to celebrate properly," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-26/two-weeks-after-storm-hail-not-melted-theodore/11642758
