Man the Lifeboats!

[cactuswatcher]

We had hale fairly frequently in St. Louis. But it was little stuff that came and went quickly with the front of storms. The two worst hale storms I have ever experienced were here in Phoenix. The second worst was just a couple hours ago when the ground was covered with 3/4 inch hale stones in a matter of a few minutes. Unlike the worst hale storm, about a decade ago in September, the hale on the ground late this afternoon was gone quickly, drowned by at least an inch of rain after the haling stopped. None of it will show up in the statistics for Phoenix, because I live a good twenty miles from the airport where the official figures are recorded. At least I think they got light rain at the airport this afternoon. In that storm a decade ago, I think it was just partly cloudy on that side of town. It didn't rain much during our summer monsoon (June-September) this year, but officially this has been the wettest October ever recorded in Phoenix.