VIGO PARK, Texas, June 6, (AP): Storm trackers in the Texas Panhandle recovered a massive hail stone that researchers say is likely to be a new state record.
Val and Amy Castor, veteran storm chasers with Oklahoma City television station KWTV, discovered a piece of hail more than 7 inches (17.78 centimeters) long Sunday along the side of the road near Vigo Park while they were chasing a major thunderstorm system.
Val Castor said the stone was about the size of a pineapple.
"That's the biggest hail I've ever seen, and I've been chasing storms for more than 30 years,” Castor said.
Castor said several baseball-sized hail stones fell while he was driving, including one that cracked his windshield, before he spotted the big piece in a ditch on the side of the road.
"I could see it from probably 100 yards away,” he said.
The massive hail stone is believed to be a new state record, topping a 6.4-inch (16.25-centimeter) hail stone found in Hondo in 2021. It still must be confirmed by a group of researchers that includes the Texas state climatologist, said Jordan Salem, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Lubbock.