[meteorite-list] Mysterious chunks of ice pelt Iowa town

From: Jerry <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:03:43 -0400
Message-ID: <62A854B0C1EE455A84CED7EEE9D0AD5D_at_Notebook>

HA! HA! you're right there Adam!
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Hupe" <raremeteorites at yahoo.com>
To: "Adam" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mysterious chunks of ice pelt Iowa town


>I think the organic material (corn kernel clasts in
> spent brown fuel rods) embedded in the ice are a
> pretty good indication to where the ice chunks
> originated. Notice in the image how far away the
> homeowner is keeping the ice chunk that damaged the
> house away from her nose, PU!
>
> All the Best,
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>
>
> --- Jerry <grf2 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Doesn't anyone want to address the origins of these
>> and all the other
>> instances reported on the List over the years? Or
>> are we all convinced
>> they're from errant jetliners poopers?
>> Jerry Flaherty
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mike Groetz" <mpg444 at yahoo.com>
>> To: "Meteorite List"
>> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 1:25 PM
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Mysterious chunks of ice
>> pelt Iowa town
>>
>>
>> > There are some pretty good pictures on the CNN
>> site.
>> > Everyone keep their head down....
>> > Mike
>> >
>> >
>>
> http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/27/falling.ice.ap/index.html
>> >
>> > Mysterious chunks of ice pelt Iowa town
>> > Story Highlights
>> > One falling chunk of ice reportedly weighed 50
>> pounds
>> >
>> > No one on the ground hurt by falling chunks of ice
>> >
>> > Possible sources of ice: Airplane or a
>> thunderstorm
>> >
>> > DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) -- Large chunks of ice, one of
>> them
>> > reportedly about 50 pounds, fell from the sky in
>> this
>> > northeast Iowa city, smashing through a woman's
>> roof
>> > and tearing through nearby trees.
>> >
>> > Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but
>> have
>> > theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane
>> or
>> > naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere --
>> both
>> > rare occurrences.
>> >
>> > "It sounded like a bomb!" 78-year-old Jan Kenkel
>> said.
>> > She said she was standing in her kitchen when an
>> ice
>> > chunk crashed through her roof at about 5:30 a.m.
>> > Thursday. "I jumped about a foot!"
>> >
>> > She traced the damage to her television room,
>> where
>> > she found a messy pile of insulation, bits of
>> ceiling,
>> > splintered wood and about 50 pounds of solid ice.
>> >
>> > Karle and Mary Beth Wigginton, who live a block
>> away,
>> > heard a loud "whoosh" coming through the trees.
>> They
>> > discovered several large chunks of ice in front of
>> > their home and some smaller ones in the yard and
>> in
>> > the street.
>> >
>> > "I could see where branches were shredded, which
>> told
>> > me it was definitely coming out of the sky," Karle
>> > Wigginton said.
>> >
>> > He estimated the original chunk of ice was the
>> size of
>> > a basketball. "It was pure white," he said. "The
>> main
>> > parts I picked up were very smooth."
>> >
>> > Elizabeth Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal
>> Aviation
>> > Administration, said investigators would contact
>> > Kenkel to try to determine the source of the ice.
>> >
>> > "It is very uncommon for something like this to
>> come
>> > from an aircraft," Cory said. "That is really
>> unusual
>> > if it is pure white ice, especially at this time
>> of
>> > year."
>> >
>> > Occasionally, aircraft latrines discharge contents
>> at
>> > altitude, resulting in chunks of descending ice.
>> > Airplanes also sometimes accumulate ice on their
>> edges
>> > in certain atmospheric conditions, including high
>> > altitude and extreme moisture, said Robert
>> Grierson,
>> > the Dubuque Regional Airport manager and a pilot.
>> >
>> > The moisture involved in such a scenario could
>> have
>> > come from the tops of strong thunderstorms.
>> However,
>> > Dubuque had clear skies at the time the ice fell,
>> said
>> > Andy Ervin, a meteorologist with the National
>> Weather
>> > Service in Davenport. "There was nothing unusual
>> going
>> > on," he said.
>> >
>> > David Travis, a professor of geography and geology
>> and
>> > an associate dean at the University of
>> > Wisconsin-Whitewater, has studied the phenomenon
>> of
>> > large chunks of ice falling from a clear sky. He
>> said
>> > it's possible the ice could have been a
>> megacryometeor
>> > -- "similar to a hailstone, but without the
>> > thunderstorm."
>> >
>> > Travis is part of a research team that has
>> documented
>> > more than 50 possible megacryometeor cases during
>> the
>> > past five years. Some involve ice chunks the size
>> of
>> > microwave ovens.
>> >
>> > "It is hard to keep something like that suspended
>> in
>> > air without a thunderstorm," Travis said.
>> >
>> > Most megacryometeor sightings have occurred in
>> coastal
>> > areas, where atmospheric turbulence helps keep ice
>> > suspended long enough to grow into large chunks.
>> >
>> > Travis' research team speculates the phenomenon
>> could
>> > be linked to global warming, suggesting that
>> climate
>> > change might make the tropopause portion of the
>> > atmosphere colder, moister and more turbulent.
>> >
>> > "But those don't typically happen in the summer
>> time,"
>> > Travis said. "It seems like they are mostly
>> associated
>> > with the passage of passing cold fronts."
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
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Received on Sat 28 Jul 2007 07:03:43 PM PDT