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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Summer hail prompts use of snowplows in South Dakota city

This Tuesday, July 14, 2015 photo provided by Karen Maudlin shows cars on the side of the road after a hailstorm near Rockerville, South Dakota. A brief but intense hailstorm Tuesday dropped as much as 4 inches of slippery pellets in a South Dakota city prompted officials to call out snowplows in the middle of summer. (Karen Maudlin via AP)
This Tuesday, July 14, 2015 photo provided by Karen Maudlin shows cars on the side of the road after a hailstorm near Rockerville, South Dakota. A brief but intense hailstorm Tuesday dropped as much as 4 inches of slippery pellets in a South Dakota city prompted officials to call out snowplows in the middle of summer. (Karen Maudlin via AP)

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – A brief but intense hailstorm that dropped as much as 4 inches of slippery pellets in a South Dakota city prompted officials to call out snowplows in the middle of summer.

Pennington County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Jackson tells the Rapid City Journal (http://bit.ly/1MtzW6U ) that the Tuesday night incident on U.S. Highway 16 south of Rapid City was “definitely weird” for mid-July.

The National Weather Service says pea-size hail pelted the highway for about 15 minutes. Jackson says the area was shrouded in heavy fog as the hail melted and a few cars went off the road, but that there were no serious injuries.

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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com