DANTE - A hailstone that fell at Dante appears to have set a state record for size.

Todd Heitkamp of the National Weather Service is working with the state climatologist to determine whether the ice ball - which is about 7 inches in diameter - is the largest ever found in South Dakota.

A 6-inch hailstone from Custer County in 1968 is believed to be the largest on record in the state.

Heitkamp said the Dante hailstone that fell Tuesday evening appears to be a little smaller than the national record hailstone that

was found four years ago in Aurora, Neb.

The Dante hailstone weighs 1 pound and has a circumference of 18 inches.

Heitkamp went back to Dante on Thursday to visit two residents who had saved larger hail stones than those he measured on Wednesday.