As the summer season kicked off, residents of Texas were in for a surprise when their weather forecast resembled something more akin to a winter wonderland. In a rare occurrence, parts of the state experienced a record-breaking hail storm, bringing with it a dramatic 50-degree temperature drop. The storm was so severe that it left authorities scrambling to clear the streets, deploying snowploughs to shift mounds of hail that had accumulated on main roads.
In Marathon, a small town in south-west Texas, residents reported temperatures plummeting from 105 degrees Fahrenheit to the mid-50s in a matter of hours. “It was like an air conditioner,” remarked Brian Curran, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Midland, Texas. This sudden drop was reminiscent of a winter evening, leaving residents stunned and struggling to comprehend the sudden change in weather.
The hailstorms were nothing short of extraordinary, with chunks of ice measuring up to 5 inches in diameter. In some areas, hailstones were reported to be as large as grapefruits, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. One reporter from the Washington Post described the scene in Lubbock, Texas, as apocalyptic, with hailstones crashing through the roof of a local Walmart and causing widespread damage.
As the storm settled, residents took to social media to document the aftermath. Videos emerged of baseball-sized hailstones pounding the pavement, shattering windshields, and causing chaos. The drama unfolded not just in Marathon but also in north Texas, where a similar storm had been reported just a week prior.
Texas in WinterMeanwhile, the rest of the midsection of the United States was dealing with an onslaught of extreme weather, leaving at least 21 people dead across multiple states. The Memorial Day weekend storms, which continued into the week, left hundreds of thousands without power. In Texas alone, 800,000 customers were without electricity at one point, making it one of the biggest power outages in the state’s history.
The hailstorm, though unusual, served as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of Texas weather. As residents attempt to rebuild and resume their daily routines, they can’t help but wonder what other surprises the unpredictable season may hold.