Large Balls of Snow.

Daily Advocate de Newark (Ohio), 28 janvier 1898 s1Clark, J. E.: "anomalous precipitation, Kansas, 1898", Magonia Exchange, lundi 22 octobre 2007

Odd Phenomenon Reported From the Vicinity of Salina, Kan.

According to a report brought to Salina, Kan., recently by T. E. Keith, superintendent of the county farm, seven miles southwest of there, the imps of the air must have been rolling snowballs over that section of the state the other night. He is authority for the statement that during the snowstorm last night the snow fell not in feathery flakes, as it is accustomed to do, but descended in balls and blocks, leaving the ground [illegible] with spherical and rectangular icecaps of the beautiful [word missing?]. The balls ranged in size from that of a large orange to that of a musk melon, and the blocks had the dimensions of a three gallon water bucket.

The county farm was the center of the phenomenal precipitation, which covered an area of two square miles, ranging from northeast to southwest. About 12 acres of the county farm presented the appearance of a melon patch to which a coating of whitewash had been administered.

Mr. Keith witnessed the phenomenon, which took place at about 9 o'clock, and said the atmosphere had the appearance of being filled with white footballs. The balls and blocks of snow were not hard, but were sufficiently firm to retain their shape after alighting on the ground. Tim Hayne's farm, adjoining the county farm, was visited by the strange phenomenon, as were also two or three other farms in the vicinity.

Snow began falling in this vicinity early in the morning and continued at intervals until midnight, the total precipitation amounting to about two inches. The phenomenon lasted for a few minutes only and was witnessed by a number of reliable persons, all of whom agree in pronouncing it the strangest sight they ever saw.  Kansas City Times.