Artesians were forced to hunker down and hold on Saturday afternoon as a violent thunderstorm blew quickly in from the north, turning a hot, sunny day into an onslaught of lightning, rain and hail. Above, a large cloud formation in the northwest heralded the storm’s arrival, which began just after 4 p.m. with hail that ranged from ping pong ball to baseball in size. A second round of hail was of the pea to marble variety, and when that was over, down came the rain, swiftly flooding streets and filling Eagle Draw. Happy Homecoming, Artesia High School, alumni!
