Baseball-Sized Hail, Tornadoes Hit Plains

Supercell thunderstorms quickly flared up across the southwestern Plains states Thursday afternoon, growing tall and strong enough to produce very large hail and tornadoes.

Yikes!
Check out the baseball size #hail that fell in Kendall, #Kansas Thursday afternoon! #KSwx #StormChasing #SevereWeather pic.twitter.com/0Wt79MvbjV

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The largest hailstone reports came in from the north/northeast side of San Angelo, Texas where a four-inch-thick hailstone was reported! Hail of that diameter is equal to the width of a softball! These hailstones grew from strong updrafts within the thunderstorm. The updraft winds are the rising winds within a thunderstorm. Equally as dangerous are the downdraft winds of a thunderstorm, which will continue in spots overnight and into Friday morning.

Thunderstorms, some carrying large hail and strong winds, will continue to be most widespread across parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Wind gusts may reach up to 70 mph and hailstones may grow as large as hen egg-sized, which is about two inches in diameter.

On Thursday night and into early Friday morning (before dawn), the most concentrated thunderstorms are expected to be in south-central Kansas, northwest Oklahoma, and extreme north Texas. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect in these aforementioned areas until 6 a.m. Central Time Friday, as of this writing.

If you’re in the path of these storms, move your vehicles and/or valuable property to safety to avoid hail damage. Continue to stay with WeatherNation and our team coverage as we track these storms.