The storm which rolled over the Okanagan and Shuswap on the afternoon of June 12 dumped rain on all the area’s residents and treated some parts of the region to a lightning show. The weather was especially extreme as the storm crossed the Chase Creek area dumping some enormous hailstones as it went.
Chase Creek resident Shirley Mackenzie-Barna was able to collect a bowl full of hailstones which were nearly the size of golf balls.
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Mackenzie-Barna and her husband had driven through the storm on the way home from Kamloops and had just brought their groceries into their house when the rain started between 5 and 6 p.m. Shortly after the rain began thunder and lightning rattled Mackenzie-Barna’s house, and the hail wasn’t far behind.
“The sky opened up and all hell broke loose. It was the most intense storm we’ve had here in years,” Mackenzie-Barna said.
Other Shuswap residents posted photos to social media of large hailstones that hit the ground near their house, but they paled in comparison to the ones that fell on Mackenzie-Barna’s house.
The worst of the storm passed over quickly and Mackenzie-Barna said her garden seems to have fared well despite the intensity of the hail.
She said only one other storm in her 30 years of living in the area approached the intensity of the one on June 12.
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jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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