Timothy Lawton

     About three weeks ago Emerson, NJ and several surrounding towns were slammed by an extremely rare hail storm. Some of my students referred to it as snow. This was largely due to the fact that the roads had to be plowed and people had to shovel their walks and driveways. I was told that golfball sized hail still remained the morning after by someone who was an eyewitness. Now on July 7th, 2009 this phenomenon was practically repeated in and around Yonkers, NY. I have heard no first hand reports, but pictures made it clear that at least shovels and possibly plows were again needed. Maybe the persistence of the upper level low over our region for the past 5 weeks may be the cause for these storms. Yet, we have to wonder at exactly how exceptional this series of events are. Remember an unusually prolific hail storm with extremely dense territorial coverage struck from PA to NJ to NY to CONN in April.