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Ping, Ping Ping. Here's What It's Like to Drive Into a Big Hailstorm in the Name of Science
- On June 6, 2025, meteorology professor Victor Gensini led Project ICECHIP in Levelland, Texas, chasing hailstorms in fortified vehicles with about 60 researchers.
- Partially supported with $11 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and developed over an eight-year planning period, the study seeks to enhance predictions for hail, a frequently overlooked threat responsible for approximately $10 billion in annual damages across the U.S.
- The team collected hailstones up to 5.5 inches, deployed special funnels, crushers, radar, drones, and brought three Associated Press journalists to document the first-of-its-kind project.
- Gensini acknowledged the difficulties in accurately predicting hail size and pointed out that the largest hailstones occurred in locations different from those indicated by Doppler radar, while Kumjian described the storm’s winds and precipitation as severe.
- The collected data could improve hail forecasts and roofing material durability testing, but Gensini warned federal science cuts mean projects like this may not recur for several years.
47 Articles
47 Articles
Driving into a big hailstorm in the name of science
Wind roared against the SUV's windows as its tires sloshed through water dumped onto the road by the downpour. A horizon-wide funnel cloud loomed out the window, several miles away. Then came the loud metallic pings on the roof. First one, then another. Then it was too fast to count and too loud to hear much of anything else.
Associated Press News
Ping, ping ping. Here's what it's like to drive into a big hailstorm in the name of science
A team of about 60 researchers are spending six weeks in the Great Plains chasing hail. It's a first-of-its-kind giant science project that may eventually help better forecast an underappreciated weather hazard that costs the United States about $10 billion a year in damage to cars, roofs and agricu
High Tech "Hail Camera" Developed By National Severe Storms Laboratory
For those of us living in areas like Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, hail is a real threat. The icy balls are created when raindrops are carried up by thunderstorm updrafts, freezing as they reach cold areas of the atmosphere. Those stones then grow as liquid water drops collide with their surfaces and freeze. Once the hail grows large enough that the updraft can no longer support their weight, they drop to the ground. Hail ranges in size, from…
The wind roared against the windows of the SUV as its tires slipped through the water thrown on the road near the attic. A cloud of funnels on the horizon appeared through the window, several kilometres away. Then came the noisy metal pings on the roof. First, then another. [...]
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