AUSTIN, Texas — Around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, a strong thunderstorm turned severe while moving into western Travis County.
As it moved over the neighborhoods of Bee Cave and Hamilton Pool, residents saw a plague of small, pea- and dime-sized hail, which made it look like it had been snowing!
Sandra Eads filmed the event in Bee Cave as hail and graupel plunged into her backyard and pool, with slush coming off the roof:
Below is a close-up picture of the messy precipitation from Brooke in Dripping Springs.
With temperatures in the 50s at the surface on Wednesday afternoon, it is certainly a cooler day but not cold enough for this icy mess to last. But it was an entertaining event to witness!
Graupel is a form of frozen precipitation that can form during thunderstorms just like hail can. However, it is a much softer consistency. In the updraft of thunderstorms, supercooled droplets of water can freeze onto small ice or snowflakes, then fall to the ground. Sometimes graupel is even called "soft hail."
The KVUE Storm Team will be monitoring the chance for additional severe storms into the evening. Stay weather aware – updates will be made on-air, on KVUE+ and on KVUE.com.