Thursday, October 7, 2010

Glacier in... New Mexico?

My friend Al sent me a link earlier with the title "Instant Glacier," which I just got around to reading.  Sort of funny, sort of amazing.  According to an article in New Mexico Geology, Volume 26, #4 (November 2004),
Hail accumulations reaching 12 inches were followed by as much as 5 inches of rain. So much rain fell in such a short period of time that the pea- and marble-sized hail was carried along first as sheet flood and then concentrated in a small drainage tributary to Sand Draw (Fig. 3) estimated to be approximately 15–20 ft deep. Approximately 8 mi south of Clayton just off NM–402 (sec. 10 T24N R35E), the hail began piling up behind a 12–16 ft culvert that was unable to handle the flow. Hail filled the small draw, as rain continued to flow across the fields, through the tons of ice, and onto the highway.
And the result? Instant glacier! Check the link for many more photos and the full story. (579 kb PDF)

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