Saturday, May 31, 2008

All Hail Eagan

That was some exciting weather. We just got the tent in the backyard down, and in rolled a storm, and hail. Lots of hail. Big hail. Fortunately we have a garage. Unfortunately, my car is at the shop, which stores them outside. I hear there wasn't any hail if you traveled a few miles north, so I'm hoping my car was in a low-hail zone and doesn't end up looking like Cookie Queen's did last weekend.

There is the sound of dozens of sirens outside. I really hope that doesn't mean there were bicyclists and others caught out in the ice storm. There are some selected photos and two movies below, but if you'd like to see a slew of photos, here's the flickr set.

Some of the larger hail stones.


Pooteewheet's camera lens for comparison.


There was quite a bit of it, especially near the garage.


The kids doing cleanup.


It wasn't good for the plants (you can see a hole in one of the plants on flickr from where a hailstone passed through it).


After the bulk of the hail had fallen:


A little closer while it continues:

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Scott,

It looks like the hail was larger on your side of Eagan. We had hail the size of a dime. All those sirens you heard were heading east on cliff past our house.

Lee

Mac Noland said...

I was standing out in my front lawn, with a baby and a beer, watching the storm come in. Being in Apple Valley, we just missed the majority of things. Though I have a a friend who lives right down the road who is in need of a new roof. I'm guessing he was wishing those balls would come south.

Aaron said...

Damn! That's a bunch of hail! I can't believe I slept through the storm.

Sank said...

It was a weird storm. We were (Apple Valley) surprised when the sirens went off, it was sunny and clear. When the storm came over we didn't even get rain, but just northeast (Over you?) the sky was really angry looking. Rotation, scary looking formations... Hopefully you didn't get any damage. We need some new windows so when it hails I cautiously hope that we'll get a few of them broken...
Oh well

Anonymous said...

Is that Sandy in the dog run?

She says said...

It looks like a mothball factory exploded down the street from you. That's some impressive hail.

She says said...

And what are the sirens all about? Educate this poor East coast gal...

Scooter said...

Sirens depend on the city you're in if you live in Minnesota. Most cities crank them up if there's a tornado sighting. Eagan starts wailing if there's a severe thunderstorm. Sometimes I swear they turn them on if someone sees a raindrop. We even have siren tests once a month. I think you have to live in tornado country to appreciate how ubiquitous they are.