We had a thunderstorm the other night with a tornado watch, and began getting marble-sized hail almost immediately. We were watching it hail when a BOOMING sound began on the roof. We couldn’t think what it could be, but then the biggest hail I’ve ever seen began landing on the deck and in the yard.
Naturally we had to collect some. The largest ones weighed 4 ounces and were almost as big as a baseball (a hardball, not a softball). Just imagine the wind required to keep hail aloft until it weighs 4 ounces! This kind of hail isn’t unusual in Austin but I’ve never seen it before, although I’ve seen cars that have been pummeled by large hail. People who were caught out in their cars this time had their windshields craze on the first strike and disintegrate on the second. And just about every year there is a swath of houses getting new roofs because of hail damage. We had to have the roof replaced only 3 years ago due to much smaller hail than this. I hope the newness of the roof means that it survived. We haven’t checked yet, although I can see that our next-door neighbors, who also had a new roof 3 years ago have some broken shingles.
Roofing company signs sprouted the next day like mushrooms after a rain. It’s a great town if you’re in the roofing business.
Your site appears to be exactly what I have been looking for. Patterns that "Say" something, not whimsy little things.
From rifestitch
15 years, 8 months agoWow, now that’s some hail! We got part of that storm system through here, but as far as I know, it was pretty mild by the time it got here. We didn’t have any tornado sirens, though we were under watch all weekend. And got a whole 1 1/2″ of rain in 3 days – not helping the drought one little bit…
When I lived in Clovis NM, Amarillo was always getting pounded. I always say I coulda made a fortune out there if I’d stayed in the sheet metal/painting business, with all the hail-damaged cars
I was fortunate to always get my car home and in the garage before the big stuff hit.
From Alanna
15 years, 8 months agoWow! Now that’s impressive! We had some hail recently, which is quite unusual for here, and it was big stuff too (for us)- about the size of large marbles. Our car did get a few dings in it, but nothing compared to your lot! Here’s hoping your roof is alright!