Last night, massive supercells cropped up in the eastern plains of Colorado. A few tornadoes were reported, though there isn’t much population to really see much of a threat. The hail was more widespread, however, and it was gigantic.

Take a look at the tweeted imge of Colorado’s new largest recorded ahi slone.

Here is the record setting hailstone, shortly after it fell near Bethune, CO yesterday. Today, @NWSGoodland measured the stone at 4.83" in diameter and it weighed 8.5 ounces. Obviously, a little melting from its original size, but still beats the old state record of 4.5" #cowx pic.twitter.com/wjHCweQ1oq

— Brian Bledsoe (@BrianBledsoe) August 14, 2019

The crazy part is that pattern didn’t change much, if at all. Tennis balls fell on the same location the very next night!

Not record setting tonight, but the same family that endured the record setting hail last night had another round of hail tonight. This time, about tennis ball size…and unfortunately window damage. @NWSGoodland @ColoradoClimate #cowx pic.twitter.com/yNlLZqDvFi

— Brian Bledsoe (@BrianBledsoe) August 15, 2019

Hail stones are caused by strong updrafts, which cause droplets to accrete more and more ice and causes it to become heavier and heavier. The hail stone falls to earth when its weight causes the downward gravitational force to exceed the updraft force. Storms in eastern Colorado have had such intense updrafts so as a half a pound of ice could be suspended. These storms were fueled by the clash of dry air from the west intersecting the heat and humidity in the High Plains.

You can read more about the hail at the Denver Post.

After several consecutive years of drier than normal conditions, and severe drought and water shortages across California, a robust winter and a long spring have nearly reversed the trend, save for a slightly dry patch over the San Diego area.

Additionally, it doesn’t appear as though the drought will return even late this summer. A break is just what all concerned parties need this summer. Hopefully, it will persist next year as well.

A watch is issued when a dangerous situation is possible, but a PDS, or “particularly dangerous situation” watch indicates a level of certainty for high end severe weather that should give residents within the bounds of a watch pause. The SPC has issued a PDS Severe thunderstorm watch for Northern Kansas and parts of southern Nebraska, including Lincoln.

Usually, PDS watches are for tornadoes, when supercells are expected to produce large, long lived tornadoes. In the case of this severe watch, that massive line bearing down on Hill City, and ultimately posing a threat for Concordia before dawn, the ongoing threat will be extremely violent straight line winds.

The text of the watch includes a threat for winds of 85mph or greater, while there have already been reports of gusts to 80mph as the squall exited Colorado. This storm is going to rage overnight, which means it will likely take many people off guard. Unlike tornadoes which usually bring sirens, but ultimately pick and choose their way across the countryside, this storm will not trigger warning sirens in every county, despite the risks, and will likely impact more residents. The PDS attribution should make all emergency personnel in the area take notice and be ready to respond as necessary.

It’s going to be a noisy night.

At the time of the GIF The Weather Channel tweeted out, Super Typhoon Lekima was a category 4 storm, doing a quick two-step around Tarama Island southwest of Okinawa. Lekima was one of two typhoons spinning in the region at the time, but fortunately, Lekima was ultimately the only one that made its way to the mainland, striking south of Shanghai.

Krosa ultimately flamed out, but Lekima did lead to 30 deaths, most of which came in a landslide in the populous and hilly Chinese coastal regions. The remnants of the storm are still moving up the coast, and though it no longer maintains the same levels of intensity, the heavy rains are going to continue to bring problems to many communities.

While Lekima was fierce and scarier still when in tandem with Krosa looming on the horizon, we are in a surprisingly calm period, given the time of the year. The Pacific is generally faster to start tropical season than the Atlantic (which remains remarkably dormant) but aside from Lekima and Krosa, there are no other named storms on the planet.

The Eastern Pacific looks next to give rise to another storm, as models seem to hint at something popping up in the next 10 days, but the Eastern Pacific is usually one of the safer places for tropical development, interception with land is rather difficult.

It’s still a month from the peak of the Atlantic season, and the Pacific Season can often come in waves, but through the middle of August, we look to be n a welcome pause this tropical season, especially in eastern China, where recovery is needed.

Summer time in the forecasting world can be fairly sporadic, and won and lost on the margins, especially if you don’t take into account the tropical season, which has been, this year, fairly dormant. Those margins, though, can be pretty important, particularly in the energy sector, where temperature forecasting becomes crucial, and every degree matters. It may not seem as important to the lay person, but this win for Accuweather, is just as important as any other month.