Hail

[resonant]

Big storm this afternoon. At our house, we got rain and wind and a little hail, and the lawn is slightly more littered with sycamore branches than it usually is, but only slightly.

But the historic district, where I go for choir practice, got thoroughly tenderized. The streets were filled with chewed-looking leaves, and you could smell the trees.

The grassy areas were steaming. I couldn't figure out why until I saw someone bend down and pick up a handful of something white and toss it: the hailstones that hit the street had melted immediately, but the ones that hit the grass had stayed for a while, and were now evaporating.

Comments

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

We don't get a lot of hailstorms here, but I live in a neighborhood full of really old sycamores, so I know what you mean about the "littered with branches". I think sycamores take the silver medal for "wimpiest tree in a windstorm"- they drop leaves and branches at the slightest breeze! (Grand prize winner is the birch, which just snaps off at ground level if you look at it funny.)

[jood.livejournal.com]

What do the trees smell like?

Did you take any of the hail inside and put it into the freezer? I like doing that. We occasionally get some really strange hail here. I used to like to take it out and look at it every now and then. They were all layered and looked like white jawbreakers.

[xayide2.livejournal.com]

We've been getting strange storms too. So far, every morning the power has been blinking on and off. I keep waiting for a flash flood to come down the canyon since the snow in the mountains is melting way too fast.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

I love stormy, rainy spring weather- as long as I am inside, of course!

Wait, I love it when I am inside as well!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Our neighbors had an ornamental pear tree that just split down the middle in a storm. It wasn't even that big a storm.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

The way I figured out what it was was the strong smell of pine, but the non-pine trees added a sort of green smell.

I've never looked closely at a hailstone -- they usually melt away so fast, here. I'd like to.