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What a totally insane week to be a weatherperson in China. Just as we prepare to be hit by a super typhoon following a week of egg-melting heat, not-so-tiny balls of ice start falling from the sky onto Beijing.

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Yesterday evening, a large number of local residents whipped out their smart phones and captured the scenes as a sudden hailstorm struck the nation's capital and managed to do a good bit of damage.

Helpful local news reports give the size of the hail stones as around "as big as a dove egg". Sounds about right

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According to Xinhua, the hailstorms and subsequent torrential rain that followed have once again managed to overwhelm the city's drainage system, leaving excess water sloshing around above ground and submerging roads.

Water halted traffic in parts of downtown Beijing. Cars were stalled on the road while others plowed through the flood waters with difficultly.

Apparently, the city has not learned anything from the time that the exact same thing happened in the middle of July last year.

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They could perhaps learn a thing or two from Henan residents, who back in May used quilts to protect their cars from a freak hailstorm.