“And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt Argentina(?) all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.”

– Exodus 9:25

Buenos Aires – According to the official news reports, 14 people were injured, numerous cars were damaged (there are lines today outside of repair stations for car window repair), street lights were smashed, holes were punched in roofs, windows broken in homes (2,500 homes damaged according to one report), the list goes on and on. It wasn’t looting and rioting. It was a 25 minute hailstorm that began just before 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon. We had just gotten home, thankfully, and saw the beginning of what looked like a minor amount of hail. As a precaution, we tossed a large fluffy bath towel over our glass garden table – a good thing, as about 2-3 minutes later, the hail intensity increased dramatically. So did the size of the hailstones, which went from small pebble sized on up to far larger than golf balls. The table survived. Much of our garden remains to be seen, as between the hail and the pounding rain that continued afterwards (and then again during the night, without the hail), most of the plants are simply flattened. According to the national weather service, the size of the hailstones reached roughly 7 centimeters – or 2-3/4 inches – just larger than a tennis ball! I have to admit, I’ve never seen hail like that before – now I understand why the vineyard managers in Mendoza are so concerned about hail!