What Happened? The Freak Weather in Newburgh, NY Explained
The weirdness of what happened yesterday in Newburgh, NY all depends on where you live, but for 60 seconds this weekend, Orange County felt like it was in the Upside Down.
The Hudson Valley is no stranger to odd weather. From ice quakes to steam devils, there are plenty of phenomena to keep New Yorkers on their toes, but what happened on Sunday was just ridiculous.
Wild Weather in Newburgh, NY This Weekend
It was 45 degrees on Sunday evening in the town of Newburgh, NY when I decided to take our dog Arthur for a walk around the neighborhood. I mention the temperature because my first thought was that I was hallucinating when I saw what was falling from the sky: hail (below).
And that was just the beginning...
How Hail Forms in New York
While temperatures are generally lower when hail falls, it's not impossible for ice to fall from the sky when it's above freezing.
Hail is formed when water droplets are carried high into our atmosphere on updrafts and freeze. Often, the hail will not completely melt on its way back down to earth, even if temperatures are above freezing. That doesn't explain, however, what was happening simultaneously just down the road.
Weird Weather in Newburgh, NY
I was hardly a quarter-mile away from home when the hail fell. While I was already confused at seeing ice fall from the sky for 30 seconds before disappearing completely, I was even more perplexed when I saw my wife jogging toward me holding an umbrella.
Rain and Hail Falling Simultaneously in Newburgh, NY
Apparently, while hail was falling on our dog and me, rain was pouring down in our backyard just 500 feet away. The rain was so heavy that my wife assumed I'd be soaked, and went to meet me with an extra umbrella. But can weather really be that different in such a close vicinity?
While the odds are very high, it's entirely possible for two weather events to happen next to each other. In the video above, for example, rain is falling heavily in a man's backyard while it's completely dry in his front yard.
It all has to do with three words: location, location, location.
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Rain has to stop (or start) falling somewhere, and while that may seem obvious, it becomes more perplexing on the micro level. While most of us have driven through a rainstorm, it's a completely different experience to walk through one, and different once again when an updraft up the hill turns that rain into hail.
While rain and hail can be perplexing (at least to me), at least we won't see another snowstorm until next winter. Check out some local New York snowfall records below, and keep scrolling to start planning your warm weather Spring Break trip.
Biggest snowfalls recorded in New York history
Gallery Credit: Stacker
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