Remembering the great hailstorm of 2016.

4-14-24. 1:15pm. This “Remembering the great hailstorm of 2016” is brought to you by Bahia Services and Rentals in Port O'Connor, TX https://www.facebook.com/BahiaServicesandRentals

We are two days past the 8th anniversary of one of the worst hailstorms that has ever hit Texas. I remember this on well…I was watching the storm on my radar app and knew we were going to get nuked in Helotes…unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing we could do except for making sure our cars were in the garage. When the hail started, it was deafening, and sounded like we were in a war zone! We were fortunate that our home did not lose any windows, but others in our same neighborhood were not so lucky, losing multiple windows during the storm. I measured baseball size hail at our place, but some measured grapefruit sized hail. When it was over, we ended up having to come up with over $7000 to pay for our deductible and items not covered by insurance. It took months to finally get a new roof and get reimbursed by our insurance.

On a side note, this was actually the second worst hailstorm I had ever been through. We had some property in Comfort when I was growing up and we had a horrible hailstorm in the early 70’s that dropped mainly grapefruit size hail one afternoon in May. I can still remember how frightening that storm was and the incredible destruction it left behind.

From the SA-Austin NWS: “On this day in 2016, a thunderstorm produced up to 4.5 inch hail near Tezel Rd. and Bandera Rd. in northwestern San Antonio. This tied for the largest hailstone ever reported in Bexar County. The hailstorm storm moved across northern Bexar County, crossing the northern half of San Antonio.

Damage costs in San Antonio were estimated at $1.36 billion (2016 dollars) making this the second costliest hailstorm ever in the state of Texas according to the Insurance Council of Texas. Estimates do not include uninsured or commercial losses which will likely push the losses to near $2 billion, especially when including 2 other hailstorms that occurred over the same area of Bexar County at the end of the April 2016. Estimates provided by the Insurance Council of Texas and include damage to 136,000 vehicles and 125,000 homes.”

Please share any images or stories you may have about this storm or another one that produced large hail. Let us know where and when.

Mark