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Why Is Hail Getting So Big?
- Thread starter Randy Zipser
- Start date
![Why Is Hail Getting So Big [WSJ, June 7-8, 2025].jpg](/data/attachments/44/44666-788f7897f1e1af86151172c69419f50f.jpg?hash=Js8e-A_mgA)
Hannah.Taylor
EF4
The good stuff hasn't even started yet.
"And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe." - Revelation 16-21
"And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe." - Revelation 16-21
Randy Zipser
EF2
Project "Icechip" is not the first organized, NSF-funded hail research project ever to be conducted. In the early 1970s, while participating in the NSSL/OU Tornado Intercept Project (TIP), I had the very great fortune to ride along on a few severe-thunderstorm events with Dr. Nancy Knight, in a program called "Hail Chase." Nancy, and her husband, Dr. Charles Knight, were both Senior Scientists and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, and were considered among the world's most-knowledgeable experts on hail. It would be interesting to compare the Icechip results with the Hail Chase results from 50 years ago, much of which have been published in the meteorological journals (BAMS, JAM, JAS, MWR). This might shed some light on whether the average hailstone size has actually increased over the past half century.
William Monfredo
EF4
Charles Knight handles the Vivian, SD hailstone of July 23, 2010 (NCAR).
This...the national-champ stone...weighed an ounce less than two pounds & measured 8 inches across.
I totaled my car when these melon-sized stones fell on it there during 80+ mph winds that day. I simply could not believe what I was seeing!
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Randy Zipser
EF2
Here is an article about the five largest hailstones known to exist, at least through November, 2018, the article's publication date:
5 Largest Hailstones in the World - Largest.org
William, since you're from Nebraska, do you recall ever hearing about the hailstone that fell in Potter, NE? As I recall, around the time Hail Chase was going on, that Nebraska hailstone still was the "official" record-holder, but there's no mention of it above. According to Wikipedia, that hailstone fell on July 6, 1928, measured 17 inches in diameter (circumference more likely) and weighed 1.5 pounds
5 Largest Hailstones in the World - Largest.org
William, since you're from Nebraska, do you recall ever hearing about the hailstone that fell in Potter, NE? As I recall, around the time Hail Chase was going on, that Nebraska hailstone still was the "official" record-holder, but there's no mention of it above. According to Wikipedia, that hailstone fell on July 6, 1928, measured 17 inches in diameter (circumference more likely) and weighed 1.5 pounds
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Boris Konon
EF4
This is what NCEI's Storm Data has for hail at least 6" in diameter. And this official data suggests that one should be wary of mainstream media posts/articles regrading "top X lists" or "worst/best <this and that>." I've found such content is often glossed over w/ limited research done.
Vivian SD 7/23/2010 8.00”
Wichita KS 9/15/2010 7.75”
Vigo Park TX 6/02/2024 7.02”
Aurora NE 6/22/2003 7.00”
Dante SD 8/21/2007 6.88”
Hondo TX 4/28/2021 6.41”
El Reno OK 5/31/2013 6.30”
Wagner SD 8/21/2007 6.13”
Johnson City TX 5/09/2024 6.12”
Ada OK 3/14/2024 6.00”
Gotebo OK 5/23/2011 6.00”
Vivian SD 7/23/2010 8.00”
Wichita KS 9/15/2010 7.75”
Vigo Park TX 6/02/2024 7.02”
Aurora NE 6/22/2003 7.00”
Dante SD 8/21/2007 6.88”
Hondo TX 4/28/2021 6.41”
El Reno OK 5/31/2013 6.30”
Wagner SD 8/21/2007 6.13”
Johnson City TX 5/09/2024 6.12”
Ada OK 3/14/2024 6.00”
Gotebo OK 5/23/2011 6.00”
Randy Zipser
EF2
Good information, and much more accurate and current. Case in point is the 17-inch diameter size for the Potter, NE, hailstone in Wikipedia, which was probably 17 inches in circumference (5.4 inches in diameter).
William Monfredo
EF4
Heard of it, but before my time. NCAR says...
Potter, Nebraska, 12 July 1928
Weight: about 1 lb., 8 oz (680 g)
Diameter: 5.4” (13.7 cm)
Circumference: not reported
Randy Zipser
EF2
Thank you, William. I never thought to check this information with NCAR, which would be a much more reliable source of information than Wikipedia, even if before the Knights' times at NCAR. All three pieces of "correct" information you quote differ from Wikipedia's, also consistent with Boris' point above. At first, I thought the discrepancy might be caused by AI-generation, but actually it was Wikipedia's inaccuracy...
John Farley
Supporter
Since you mentioned the Icechip project, I thought I would post a picture of one of their vehicles which I ended up parked next to at the Holiday Inn Express in Wolforth after the Lubbock storm June 5. (The hotel lost at least a dozen north-facing windows to the wind-driven hail.) I accidentally got a little lightning illuminating the storm, now well to the ESE, in the upper right of the picture. Ran into the people using this car the next morning while loading up to go, and they mentioned they were with the Icechip project and were from Penn State. I asked one of them if they got some good hail data yesterday and mentioned having seen a lot of their reports the previous day, where they were on the same storm I was in NM. They said they kind of got distracted by the tornadoes, lol! But I hope they did get some data because I see the Morton-Lubbock storm did produce a report of 5-inch hail.
I told them I loved their setup, but did not add that I was jealous, though I was. If I had that, I might not worry so much about getting into hail!
I told them I loved their setup, but did not add that I was jealous, though I was. If I had that, I might not worry so much about getting into hail!
Randy Zipser
EF2
Wow, John, great report. What a coincidence to run into some Icechip chasers!
During the TIP in the 1970s, I had the chance to chase both sides: hail and tornadoes. Tornadoes were always my first love, but, having grown up in FL which has a lot of summertime hail, mostly pea-sized (occasionally up to marble), I wanted to experience the windshield-busting stuff without having to worry about destroying the chase vehicle. So, I jumped at the chance to do a few chases with Nancy Knight, who smoked cigarettes like a chimney and was a really fun person to be around. She chased in an open-flatbed pickup truck, pockmarked from previous hail encounters and, of course, having the obligatory spider-web cracks across the windshield. In the bed of the truck, there was a rectangular platform filled with what looked like a thin, horizontal pad of styrofoam covered with aluminum foil, and a thick pan of clay-like material underneath. When a very large, heavy hailstone hit this pad, it penetrated down into the "clay" and left an imprint of the stone, which acted as a mold to be filled with plaster-of-Paris to re-cast the original stone. While that was going on, Nancy was furiously scribbling in a notebook and screaming into a small hand-held microphone attached to a portable tape recorder, noting time, location, direction and estimated speed of wind/gusts, etc. Primitive methodologies and technology (no instruments, no radar, no guidance), but very effective and successful.
While the tornado crews were studiously trying to avoid the hail cores, Nancy's mission was to core-plunge, and she had done that so many times that she knew instinctively where to penetrate the core for the largest hail. I remember that the first time we got into a big hail core, the sound was deafeningly loud, but quite an exhilarating "rush" feeling, as good as some of the best tornadoes that I had experienced! As I recall, the biggest hail I had seen with her was probably baseball-sized, but still very memorable. I had no regrets doing these hail chases, even though I had missed a couple of good tornadoes produced by some of those same storms.
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Randy Zipser
EF2
The hail chases with Nancy Knight got me thinking about some huge-hail encounters that the late hurricane and tornado chasing "legend," Jim Leonard, had. The links below are two examples of hailstorms he ran into, one in Nebraska in 1999 that completely destroyed his personal car that he was using for chasing that year. If you have never seen this, you will be amazed at the size of the hail and what happens to Jim's car with him inside and video camera rolling. The other, a chase near Buffalo Gap, TX, in May, 1989, where Jim was fortunate enough to duck his car into an open garage; note the scene with hail striking the backyard partially-filled pool.
And Jim never went out of the way to avoid hail on any of the (several) chases I did with him, no matter what the size!
And Jim never went out of the way to avoid hail on any of the (several) chases I did with him, no matter what the size!
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Boris Konon
EF4
One thing about hailstones and size, it is still very limiting as to truly knowing what is what b/c 1) hail swaths are so localized in storms and occur in vast unpopulated areas, 2) many of the largest stones break upon impact, and 3) when ppl do come across giant hail, how long has it been there to melt?
The point is our giant hail climo still has some serious gaps. It is getting better due to more population, more chasers, social media, and camera proliferation, and I think that's why in recent years we have more giant hail reports, ever so slowly giving us a better picture of "what's really out there."
Dan Robinson
EF5
I have a technically 6" hailstone from Taylor, Nebraska on May 29. 2022 (really a 4.5" stone with a 1.5" spike):
I think hail like this is more common than most think. It is rare for me (and probably most chasers) to encounter giant hail like this just because we normally don't venture into the parts of supercells where it usually is (vault region). If you are after tornadoes you can see, you stay mostly east and south of that area. In the Taylor case, the storm was behind a cold front with a low tornado risk, so I decided to go hail hunting after 4"+ stones were reported. I used to take a hail cooler stocked with dry ice on every Plains trip. I still have all of these in my freezer.
I think hail like this is more common than most think. It is rare for me (and probably most chasers) to encounter giant hail like this just because we normally don't venture into the parts of supercells where it usually is (vault region). If you are after tornadoes you can see, you stay mostly east and south of that area. In the Taylor case, the storm was behind a cold front with a low tornado risk, so I decided to go hail hunting after 4"+ stones were reported. I used to take a hail cooler stocked with dry ice on every Plains trip. I still have all of these in my freezer.
JamesCaruso
Staff member
Wow Dan, that’s amazing that you still have all those! I hope these are old pictures and that you didn’t take them out again to subject them to melting 
Cool to see an article on hail and the Icechip project in the WSJ. I read the article on the online version of the WSJ, and a lot of reader comments pointed out that the headline is misleading. Nowhere does the article indicate hail is actually getting bigger; it only suggests that it is “expected” to get bigger (because climate change, of course!)
Cool to see an article on hail and the Icechip project in the WSJ. I read the article on the online version of the WSJ, and a lot of reader comments pointed out that the headline is misleading. Nowhere does the article indicate hail is actually getting bigger; it only suggests that it is “expected” to get bigger (because climate change, of course!)
