Large Hail Storm Causes Damage In Eastern Oregon

A thunderstorm rolled through northeastern Oregon on Thursday, dumping intense hail on parts of Wallowa and Union counties. In some areas, the hail was large and heavy enough to cause property damage.

KGW Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino tracked the storm as it moved northeast, passing over La Grande and then the town of Wallowa.

The presence of such intense hail actually caused the radar to misread precipitation totals -- showing an improbably high two feet of rainfall per hour.

The skewed reading is the result of "hail contamination," Zaffino said; a phenomenon where the size of the hail intensifies reflection of radar signals, confusing the algorithms that calculate precipitation.

"We didn’t get two feet of rain from the storm, but we certainly got big hail," Zaffino said.