BETHUNE, Colo. (AP) - Colorado has set a new hail record but the exact size of the hail that fell near the Kansas border is still being determined.
Officials with the National Weather Service and the Colorado State University Climate Center measured a hail stone that fell at a home north of Bethune Tuesday and preserved in a freezer at 4.8 inches (12.1 centimeters) in diameter. That’s about the size of a softball although it’s more oblong.
Measurements taken by the family that recovered after it was safe to go outside show it was initially a little bigger.
The Climate Center says it will consider all information to determine a final measurement.
The previous hail record for Colorado is 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters). The national record is 8 inches (20 centimeters) - the size of a volleyball - set in 2010 in South Dakota.
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The story has been changed to correct to preserved in the second paragraph.
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