Fortunately this wasn’t my ride. Unfortunately, it was that of friends who were in a two-vehicle storm-intercept caravan with me, somehow getting plunked by a rogue hailstone of at least three inches in diameter along the edge of a core. We were headed back W, hoping to get a good sunset view of the storm’s rear–just not through this. And now, as Paul Harvey used to say: the rest of the story! A curse can become a blessing. The need to repair this damage forced my friends to go southeast and stay in Salina instead of heading west toward Colorado for the night, as originally planned. That, in turn, put them in ideal position for driving the short distance to intercept the big, nearly stationary tornado near Bennington the next day, once the repair was completed. In the end, they were quite glad this happened!
6 W Mankato, KS (27 May 13) Looking SSW
39.7782, -98.3252