What the hail? Colorado sets state record for biggest hailstone

A hailstone that crashed to Earth near Bethune, Colorado, on Tuesday is the largest ever recorded in the state. It was measured at 4.83 inches in diameter.

According to the National Weather Service, the stone weighed just over a half-pound and measured over a foot in circumference. It's roughly the size of a softball.

"Photos show that it was even larger when it fell – and was about 30 minutes between when it fell and was put in the freezer," the Colorado Climate Center said in a Tweet. "We will consider all information to establish 'final' values, but it's clear that this will be a new record for Colorado!," the center said. 

Hailstorms near the Colorado/Kansas state line are pretty common, according to the Miltenberger family, which found the stone, but Tuesday's storm was something else, KKTV in Colorado Springs reported.

"We were scared we were going to lose windows," Kylee Miltenberger admitted to KKTV.

When the storm finally calmed down, one of Kylee's daughters ran out into the front yard to collect hail samples, including the record breaker: "Holy cow! That is a reeeeally big piece of ice," she said.

The previous hail record for Colorado was 4.5 inches, the weather service said.The national record is 8 inches – the size of a volleyball – set in 2010 in South Dakota.

And the world record for hailstone by weight is the 2.25-pound monstrosity that hit Bangladesh in 1986.