The Nation's Spring Of Hail Storms Continues Its Destructive Path

Hailstorm approaches Norfolk, Neb. Tuesday.  

There was another huge severe weather outbreak in the Plains and Midwest yesterday and last night, and once again tornadoes weren't really the big story. It was the hail.

According to the National Severe Storms Center preliminary count of severe weather reports from Tuesday, there were 13 reports of tornadoes, 214 reports of wind damage and 251 reports of hail damage.

Most of this was concentrated in and near Nebraska.

Photographer Krista Kiese captured this storm
in Nebraska, Photo came via Twitter.  

This might have been the worst of epic hail outbreaks the nation has seen this year.

At one large car dealership in Nebraska alone, as many as 4,500 cars worth $152 million were damaged or destroyed by tennis and baseball sized hail driven by winds of 70 mph.  

When you get hail the size of tennis or baseballs and 80 mph winds propel them, houses get pretty much shredded. Roofs, windows, siding all get destroyed. You practically have to totally rebuild.

From @BTsullivan on Twitter, this Nebraska home
was shredded by huge hail propelled by hurricane force winds.  

The skies were interesting, too. When you get a supercell thunderstorm loaded with lots and lots of hail, the chunks of ice color the menacing storm clouds in shades of green and blue.

So right before people saw their houses and cars trashed by the hail, they were treated to some scary but beautiful skies.

Things will be calmer across the nation the rest of the week, though there's still the threat of severe thunderstorms, including damaging, large hail, for the next three days, especially around the middle of the country.





Here's a video of huge hail and strong winds blasting Norfolk, Nebraska.




The end of this next, dramatic video demonstrates why you should stay away from windows when the hail gets to be tennis ball sized, and propelled by high winds: