VIGO PARK, Texas (KVII) — The Texas panhandle now holds the state record for the largest hailstone.
Nearly two years after it fell in Swisher County, a hailstone, which was estimated to be 7.1-inches in diameter, was confirmed as the new record holder by the State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC).
Val Castor, a veteran storm chaser, was chasing a supercell thunderstorm on June 2, 2024 when he found the monster hailstone three miles west-northwest of Vigo Park. But Castor almost missed it.
“I noticed what look [sic] like a gallon jug of milk in the ditch,” said Castor. “I was thinking no way was this a hailstone, but I turned around and went back. As I got closer to it, it became apparent that it was indeed a very large hail stone.”
Unfortunately, Castor didn’t have any way to confirm the size, or even preserve the hail.
“I didn’t have a tape measure and about the only thing I had to compare it to was an empty Monster energy drink can. I didn’t have an ice chest or any way to keep it so sadly, I had to throw it back. Catch and release I guess,” said Castor.
It’s similar to having the “state record” bass in the livewell of your boat. Until it’s been weighed on a certified scale, it’s only a fish tale.
Castor and his fellow storm chasers estimated the hailstone to be 7.25-inches. They took a bunch of pictures for evidence and then sent them to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS).
IBHS has measured hail size through detailed laser-based measurements of recovered hailstones, or through something called photogrammetry – approximating a 3D structure using two dimensional images.
Storm chasers estimate: 7.25-inchesPhotogrammetric estimate: 7.16-inchesIBHS AI-based estimate: 7.06-inches
This hail stone fell near Vigo Park, Texas on June 2, 2024. It was finally confirmed to be 7.1-inches in diameter, making it a new state record. (Val Castor/NOAA)
Since there was no definitive measurement, the best conservative estimate of the hailstone’s diameter was determined to be 7.10-inches.
The State Climate Extremes Committee voted unanimously that the Vigo Park hailstone be accepted as the new largest hailstone in the state of Texas at 7.1-inches in diameter
“I’ve seen lots of large hail in my 35 years of storm chasing, but this was by far the largest,” said Castor.
The previous record was a 6.416-inch hail stone that fell in Hondo, west of San Antonio, on April 28, 2021.
The heaviest hail stone on record in the United States had a reported diameter of 11 inches and weighed nearly two pounds. It was discovered near Vivian, South Dakota, in July 2010, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.