Severe Storm Sweeps Metro Phoenix: Baseball-Size Hail Smashes Windows in North Phoenix Homes and Cars
PHOENIX, Arizona — A severe thunderstorm swept across the Phoenix metro area in Maricopa County, Arizona, on the afternoon of October 21. The National Weather Service office in Phoenix issued a severe thunderstorm warning that at one point warned of destructive, baseball-size hail and told residents to take shelter away from windows. At 3:18 p.m., the storm was located over Tolleson, moving northeast at 35 mph, bringing ping-pong-ball-size hail and 60 mph wind gusts to Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Surprise and highways including I-17, I-10 and Loop 101.
Damage was concentrated near 19th Avenue and Peoria Avenue in north Phoenix: windows were smashed in multiple homes, glass covered floors, siding was dented by hail, and cars parked under carports were damaged, with broken windshields and dented hoods. A nearby Family Dollar store was also damaged. Resident Christina Gonzales said the hail in her hallway was about the size of golf balls and that 'even the walls were shaking.' Another resident, Jocquil Robinson, said the hail dented his car 'as if somebody came with a hammer and hit at my car a thousand times' and that he needs a new windshield.
The weather service warned that people and animals outdoors could be injured by hail and that roofs, siding and vehicles faced damage; cleanup and insurance assessments are expected to continue for days. (GSM, based on National Weather Service Phoenix warnings, azcentral and FOX 10 Phoenix)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 凤凰城市景资料图。图片: 经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Phoenix skyline, file photo, via Wikimedia Commons.
