Freak hailstorm hits Sutherland, creates a river or hail, South Africa

Residents of the city of Sutherland located in southern Northern Cape, South Africa experienced a rare phenomenon for their region when a freak hailstorm dumped huge amounts of rain and hail in just two days on January 21, 2018. Residents said they've never witnessed such event before.

As well as their southern neighbors in Western Cape, residents of Northern Cape are experiencing severe drought after receiving almost no rainfall in the months of September to December since 2015. Their dams were also empty and their farmers equally affected but things suddenly changed when massive hailstorms filled empty dams in just 2 days.

As reported by The South African, some places received between 100 and 150 cm (39 – 59 inches), enough to collectively fill some dams in the Northern Cape to the point of overflowing. "Due to the chaotic fall of hail and rain, flash floods ended up creating icebergs and carrying them downstream," they reported.

The video below was recorded outside of Sutherland's observatory who described it as 'river of hail.'

Video courtesy Starry Night Sutherland

Sutherland (population 2 841) is 360 km (224 miles) NE of Cape Town.

Featured image: Huge hail accumulations in Sutherland, South Africa on January 21, 2018. Credit: Starry Night Sutherland