Giant Hail Hits Dallas Area, Causes Millions in Damages

Baseball-sized hailstones smashed windshields, skylights and windows as thunderstorms swept through the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, causing millions of damage.

The National Weather Service Office in Fort Worth said the storm developed rapidly over Denton and northwest Collin County before splitting into two separate storms. It was the storm that moved westward over Denton and across the Dallas/Tarrant County line that produced large hail and strong wind gusts.

Golf ball size hail was reported in portions of Arlington and Irving. Jayson Godwin with the National Weather Service said the storm system moved out of the area around 3 a.m.

Residents of the cities of Carrolton and Coppell, just north of Dallas, reported vehicles with windshields that had been knocked out and homes with broken skylights and windows.

No injuries were reported in the storms early Wednesday morning that brought high winds, heavy rain and the giant hail.

Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna says the storms left about $425 million in insured losses in their wake, damaging an estimated 20,000 structures and 25,000 vehicles.

Damaging hail was reported from the northern Dallas suburb of Frisco southwest to Arlington, west of Dallas.

Brandi Rafael of Coppell says the hail was so noisy “it actually sounded like God was throwing rocks at us.”