Falling Ice Ball Hits Dubuque Home

Tools

By Katie Wiedemann

Story Created: Jul 27, 2007 at 2:57 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 27, 2007 at 9:14 PM CST

DUBUQUE - A Dubuque woman says she's lucky to be alive Friday after a huge chunk of ice crashed through the roof of her home. And no one really knows where the ice came from.

Jan Kenkel, 78, says it sounded like a bomb exploding when a massive ball of ice rocketed through her roof.

Kenkel said, "it was terrible, scary. I jumped -- I bet I jumped a foot. It scared me."

The 50 pound ball of ice crashed through a section of Kenkel's ceiling. She was in the kitchen making coffee, just 15 feet away. Friday she's thanking her lucky stars to be alive.

Kenkel said, "It's pretty special -- life. It could have been much worse."

Airport officials say it's possible the ball of ice fell from an airplane flying over Dubuque.

Dubuque Regional Airport Manager, Bob Grierson said, "occasionally aircraft will ice up as they fly through certain conditions if the temperature is cold enough and there is moisture in the air, they could develop ice from their tail surfaces."

But Grierson says typically ice falling from a plane would be blue in color, coming from an airplane's bathroom.

The origin of this white ball of ice remains a mystery. A mystery Kenkel doesn't plan to solve.

Kenkel said, "I knew something came through the roof but I didn't know what."

TV-9 Meteorologist Lance Ryan says the sky was clear and quiet when the ice fell through Kenkel's roof. The weather team says it's not likely this situation was weather related.

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