Biggest hail experience?

[Susan Strom]

It was fun to see marble+ size hail fall this morning in the Arizona desert. I have never seen hail that size fall out here, quite rare. I called in to a couple stations, they were excited. Happens only once in a blue moon, if that.

The largest hail I have experienced was golf ball+ in Woodward, Oklahoma, bringing the dreaded "bonk" followed by the inevitable "thud" on the windshield.

What is the largest hail you have ever seen?

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Had baseball hail in Attica, KS, on 5-12-04 this year... Got baseball hail at my home back in the mid-90s around 1am... That was interesting... I didn't chase on 4-5-03 -- the northern Texas ice machine, however.

 

[Jeff Wear]

Largest I've seen was 3 inches in diameter (slightly bigger than baseballs) west of Protection KS on 5/31/1999. It had already been on the ground for a few minutes....I had been following the storm from the west.

 

[Bill Schintler]

May 18, 1997, Iowa City, IA (my hometown) - Baseball-sized hail with roughly 30 - 40% ground coverage. The previous day, I had driven a brand new car home from the dealer… On the AM of Sunday, May 18, I looked at the weather data and noticed a severe weather situation setting up, including a chance for large hail in any strong storms that would develop. While sitting at home with my parents during the noon hour having Sunday dinner, I jokingly remarked that having the new car would greatly increase the chance of large hail… My Dad said: well, it very rarely hails large enough damage vehicles – I wouldn’t worry about a thing.

To make a long story short, I did some local chasing that afternoon (carefully avoiding any rain areas), and later in the day a developing supercell was approaching Iowa City. I thought I would drop just south of town and get in position south of the meso – I had to stop for the train! So, I turned around and drove north to seek shelter in the city since my own garage was full of stuff (I was in the process of remodeling the house) and I made it into a parking ramp downtown seconds before large hail began falling…

bill

 

[Shane Adams]

Biggest I've seen: softballs on May 12, 2004 near Sharon, KS
Biggest I've been in: baseballs on April 5, 2003 near Eliasville, TX

 

[Dave Crowley]

April 5 2003 in Woodson Texas, south of Throckmorton. We missed getting pounded by the hail, that nailed several other chasers. Came into the town, found softballs still lying on the ground. Holes in roofs, cars, widows, and broken tree limbs everywhere.

 

[Bobby Eddins]

On March 28th 2000 we were unable to see the Ft. Worth tornado
because we were behind the NW side of the hook and saw 4.5 inch hail
freshly fallen. Needles to say we didn't drive into what was ahead.

The biggest I've been bonked with was around baseball sized more than once.

[Broken External Image]:http://chaseone.com/03280007.jpg

 

[Susan Strom]

Wow Bobby that's fantastic! What a shot. Croquet, anyone? I saved my windshield from some of that variety once while on a storm in Amarillo. Just west in Vega reports were coming in of 4" hail making Swiss cheese out of lawn furniture and sheds. I hung out in AMA because I didn't want to spend the next day in the shop.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I caught this stone July 13 of this year in La Salle county IL, the day of the Roanoke F4. It was just over two inches in diameter and by far this newb's largest hail ever encountered.

 

[Jeff Lawson]

It's tough to say, but probably May 4, 2002, near Vick, TX. Amos and I had gotten ourselves way up in the notch as the storm was undergoing a transformation, and the hail core essentially developed around us. We were pounded with baseballs for what seemed like an eternity as we tried to escape. On the plus side, we witnessed a brief tornado shortly thereafter. The windshield was in pretty bad shape, but held well enough to where we could continue chasing. We caught the Happy, TX tornado the next day.

Luckily, I managed to avoid hail on April 5, 2003. I blasted through Woodson at 80 mph (literally) only a minute or two before the place was decimated. It remains one of the scariest moments of my chase career - the inflow was incredible, with trash cans and lawn chairs flying across the road in front of me, and the hail was nipping at my heels. I actually hit a trash can and dragged it halfway through town with me - I was worried I'd have to stop and remove it manually (losing precious time), but a quick swerve on to the rough shoulder knocked it loose. I just wanted to get the hell outta there.

After hearing the radio traffic from those behind me who weren't lucky enough to make it out in time, I just about broke off the storm. I didn't get close to the updraft again until somewhere in Parker County. I didn't want to take my chances with that hail core again, especially not in the hills of Palo Pinto County.

 

[Thomas Loades]

Mine's really wussy — only golfball size, in about December 1991, but that (and the green clouds of the thunderstorm) got me hooked on weather. Good enough for now.

 

[Jeremy Lemanski]

golf ball size, mind you i live in east central michigan so golf ball is pretty damm good. :lol:

 

[Andrea Griffa]

Originally posted by Bobby Eddins
On March 28th 2000 we were unable to see the Ft. Worth tornado
because we were behind the NW side of the hook and saw 4.5 inch hail
freshly fallen. Needles to say we didn't drive into what was ahead.

The biggest I've been bonked with was around baseball sized more than once.

[Broken External Image]:http://chaseone.com/03280007.jpg

Amazing pic!

 

[Jimmy Deguara]

Hi,

Here is our latest hailstorms - from here in Australia.

http://www.australiasevereweather.com/stor...news/index.html

This storm put holes in roofs in the nearest town. I would say over 4 inches in this storm. We have some in hand:





We also had hail from the Kansas 12th May 2004 event drop very large hail on video breaking on the road and still in large chunks.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

 

[Andrea Griffa]

I nearly don't believe Jimmy :shock: It's really enormous....

But about the falling velocity?Was it high?