7.5 inch diameter: New Hail Texas record

Over the weekend, a record-setting hailstone fell over Texas. The icy projectile found northwest of Vigo Park, set a new hail record for the state with a diameter of 7.25 inches.

The previous state record was 6.3 inches from a storm that hit Hondo in 2021. These gigantic hail pieces are formed in the giant updrafts of supercell thunderstorms, one of the most dangerous types of thunderstorms on our planet.

The characteristic of a supercell is a rotating vortex inside the cloud and a strong updraft that freezes water as it is lifted upwards, producing large hail.

The stronger the updraft and the longer the storm can survive, the bigger the hail that can be produced. Eventually, the hail will either become too heavy for the updraft to keep aloft or the updraft stops and gravity brings it plummeting towards Earth.

Track all of the storms using our WeatherRadar and be sure to have alerts set whenever you head out.