Hailstones: Field Research

2018

The field team conducted 1 mission to the Central Plains and successfully collected 3 high quality hailswath data sets.

Following a severe storm on March 19 in Cullman, Alabama, IBHS established the Record Hail Quick Response Team. IBHS provided support to the National Weather Service and the Southeast Regional Climate Center to document what is believed to be the largest hailstone ever to have fallen in Alabama, and one of the three largest ever documented east of the Mississippi River. At 5⅜ inches (13.665 cm) at its largest measurement and approximately 0.6 pounds, its total volume was approximately 20 cubic inches (about the volume of a soda can).