Sharp drop of temperature caused damaging hailstones about 7 cm in diameter, Russia

On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 hailstones larger then chicken eggs injured at least 20 people and damaged 100 cars in a sudden mid-summer hailstorm in a Russian town located in the Kemerovo region, Central Siberia, some 3,800 km east of Moscow. The weather suddenly changed in the evening with wind bringing a torrential downpour of huge hailstones.

Witnesses said some hailstones reached seven centimeters in diameter. Town residents had literally to save themselves and run to nearby buildings to find cover. Big hailstones pierced holes in car windows, sometimes smashing the glass altogether.

Meteorologists said they believed the sudden summer storm was caused by a sharp temperature drop from 32 degrees Celsius at lunchtime to just 16 degrees Celsius by the evening.

Source: IBTimes