First summer hailstorm

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 Yesterday after a week of sun and temperatures around 30°C (86°C) we got another dose of rain. This time the weather change came in quickly and roughly. We had some serious storms this summer but not like the one we had last night. The storm came out of nowhere, with a storm cell forming directly over us even before the big cloud formation got to us. This small cell brought us some hail, but luckily it was mixed with rain so it didn’t do a lot of damage. It was from pea to hazelnut size and it lasted for 10 minutes. 

After the hail came, a big cloud formation brought us strong winds, lots of rain, and constant thunder and lightning. We got 40 liters of rain in less than an hour, and the temperature dropped from 27°C (80°F) to 15°C (59°C) in just 30 minutes.

I won’t be able to go and check the garden for at least 2 days. It’s too slippery to walk without falling, but from what I can see I don’t think there will be much damage. The directly hit plants will probably be a bit beaten up, but luckily the storm came from the southwest and the garden is on the north side and protected by the forest and the house so the garden doesn’t suffer too much when the storms come from this side.



The front yard, on the other hand, was beaten up pretty badly. Last night it was flooded with water even though we’re on a hill. I had to shovel the water from the yard down the stairs to the garden side. There have been lots of rolled-over pots with plants, especially fuchsia which the wind even knocked down from the shelves. All the bigger plants have been rolled from the wind. My planter with herbs and Gladioli took some heavy winds even with being very close to the house. 



I’ve tried to tie up the plants, but I’m not sure how many of them will survive. The Gladioli took a rough beating and some of the plants look like they have been folded too much to survive. We’ll see in the next few days if they will start to dry or not. If they do dry I’ll cut them and if not I’ll leave them. 


Other plants also got damaged. Especially garden balsam, cape gooseberry, and some house plants that were out sunbathing.



I’m not sure cape gooseberries will survive this. There have been dozens of seedlings in the barrel and maybe there will be one or 2 plants that will stay alive. The wind broke the pole that was holding them and the carrot flower and pulled out the plants. I already threw 4 seedlings into the trash which were completely torn and on the floor and the rest is badly damaged.



The same story is with garden balsam which has lots of broken plants which I’ve removed. I’ve tried to tie up the rest of them but I’m not sure how many will recover.


The hail damage is best visible on the grapevine. Leaves are full of holes, some of the leaves look like crochet lace, still better have damaged leaves than beaten up grapefruits.



The real damage won’t be visible until the broken plants start drying, but I’m hoping there won’t be too many lost plants. Still, it could have been much worse so we’re happy. 

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