Rare hail storm causes buzz on campus

Hail fell for the first time in recent memory in Florida on Wednesday with some reported to be as large as a nickel. Witnesses on campus saw the ice fall from the sky near the end of first period.

“I was kind of surprised [that it hailed],” sophomore Loren Nienajadlo said. “I only heard it and was confused to what it was at first.”

Sophomore Joshua Lopez saw hail for the first time.

“I haven’t experienced hail before,” he said. “I didn’t know how big the hail could get, which was crazy for sure.”

According to the “Treasure Coast News,” the hail broke windows in Indialantic and ripped pool covers in Cocoa.

“I was worried that there was going to be a lot of damage and someone could get hurt because of broken glass,” Lopez said.

The National Weather Service reported that “the hail was caused by a storm system bringing moisture in from the ocean meeting with a weak updraft on the edge of a frontal boundary.”

“The wind was extremely harsh and cold, making the rain cold,” Nienajadlo said. “It kind of was raining horizontal. … The coldness of the rain kind of told me it was going to hail because the differences in temperature is what causes hail, so that was kind of an early indication to me.”

By Michael Stewart