Giant hailstones ravaged the country during the last week of May 2012. I'm not just talking about "the usual suspects" in the Plains states either. New York, Vermont and New Hampshire also experience severe thunderstorms with very large hail on Tuesday, May 29th - the same day that parts of the Oklahoma City Metro area experienced very large hail. The Wichita, KS area got in on the act the following day, May 30th.
Lets take a closer look at each of these events, in chronological order....
Upstate New York and New England - Tuesday, May 29, 2012:.
A late spring storm system produce unusually large hail across portions of upstate New York and Vermont during the peak heating of the afternoon.
The Lake George and Bolton areas in eastern New York state were particularly hard hit, with widespread reports of tennis to baseball sized hail. The photo below was taken in Bolton Landing. Keep in mind that the hailstones had melted a little bit before this photo was taken:
via NWS Albany's facebook Page
Kids in Walpole, NH collected bowls full of golfball to tennis ball sized hail:
via facebook
Golfball to tennis ball sized hail also took place near Stratford, NY:
via facebook
This was the scene in nearby Lake George. Note the leaves being stripped off of the trees by golfball to tennis ball sized hail:
It's not that hail doesn't fall in New England during the spring and summer - but golfball to baseball sized hail taking place over such a widespread area of New England is very unusual. Such an event typically takes place about once every 10 to 15 years.
Next stop, an area that probably wishes that a big hailstorm only took place every 10 or 15 years (except for the severe weather fans, of course)... Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City Metro Area - Tuesday, May 29, 2012:
Parts of the Oklahoma City metro area were struck by giant hail during the evening hours of Tuesday, May 29th. Two separate severe thunderstorms converged on the city, one from the Southwest and the other from the Northwest.
The storm that originated to the Northwest packed the strongest punch, with 5 inch diameter hail first reported near Piedmont. An Oklahoma City Fox News crew in the area picked up one of the huge hailstones, which had likely melted a bit before this photo was taken:
via twitter - Fox News OKC
Tennis ball to baseball sized hail was reported over parts of especially western and northern Oklahoma City, including The Village and from near Tuttle to near Mustang.
via twitter
Not a common adjective for hail, but why not? CD sized:
via facebook
The following video shows hail plopping into a pool, shredding leaves off of the trees, and causing damage to a skylight in one Oklahoma City area home:
The hailstones were even larger in this video taken in northwest Oklahoma City. You can clearly see hailstones of at least baseball size falling on several occasions:
Property damage will go well into the millions of dollars from this event in Oklahoma City.
Wichita, KS Area - Wednesday, May 30, 2012:
A thunderstorm producing mainly quarter to golfball sized hail moved generally West to East across the central and northern two-thirds of Wichita, KS during the early evening hours of Wednesday, May 30, 2012.
Dale Lawrence - via twitter
Matt Katzenberger - via twitter
Andrea Vincent - via twitter
via twitter user "vandel1226"
Hail caused significant damage to all of the greens at the Sim Park Golf Course, which was closed the entire day afterward for repairs
Ankur Tangirala - via twitter
A few YouTube videos have emerged that show the hail, of varying size, as it fell across the city (location provided below video when available):
Near Central and Ridge Rd.
Not only was there damage done to roofs and vehicles in the area, but there were "garden casualties" as well, and the following person who shot and posted this video to YouTube is none too happy about it (nor is his daughter):
Isn't it amazing what can happen over just a 2 day period in late May across the United States? Just when you're about ready to write-off severe weather season, we're proven vulnerable yet again...
It will take weeks, if not months, for all of the roofs to be repaired or replaced and the hail dents to be removed from vehicles (assuming they can be) across these areas. In many cases, there will be more work to be done than the local companies can handle in such a short period of time. This means that out of town roofing and hail dent repair companies will be heading into these areas.
If you have suffered damage and must use a company that is not local, be sure to ask to see their credentials (for that matter, you'll want to do this even if they are local). Do a quick online search, you'll be surprised what you can find on Google these days! Also check with their local Better Business Bureau or other rating agencies. In the case of a roofing company, you can also check on their licensing status to see if any complaints have been filed with their home state. Always ask to see current proof of commercial liability insurance as well, that way you are protected if they cause any other damage to your property while making the repairs.
Our sister site, WeatherGuidance.com provides a service to guide qualified roofing companies, glass replacement and hail dent repair services to the areas that need the most assistance. If you are such a company and would like more information, please visit our HailSwath program page for more details and an interactive demonstration of how the program works.
For more information, including "live blogging" during rapidly changing weather events, please be sure to follow me on facebook and/or twitter:
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