‘Epic’ Hail Storm Hits Sunriver, Oregon, USA

If it were winter in beautiful Sunriver, Oregon, you’d expect to see piles of white snow.

But this is August 2014.

And this picture shows a massive pile of hail!

The thunderstorm hit shortly after 7pm at the end of a picture perfect summer day in central Oregon. 

I knew something was up when I checked the satellite map as I was at home waiting for some kids clothes to come out of the drier. 

See the big ‘blob’ in the center of the image? It’s fairly typical of how a massive thunderstorm (or group of them) appear from space. They stand out because the cloud tops shoot higher in the sky than others, creating that brighter, pillowy looking shape.

Anyway, when I saw this, I texted my friend Mike who is on vacation in Sunriver. 

Me: “You guys seeing storm clouds over there?”

Mike: “Just a little.” Then he sent this picture of the pouring rain.

Nice, I appreciate his sense of humor!

Then he started texting about marble sized hail–and sending images of outdoor tables suddenly abandoned by families that had to make a run for it as the hail hit.