We dodged a weather bullet the other night. Thunderstorms with large hail descended on the county and wreaked havoc on cars, roofs and siding. The biggest hailstones measured 3 inches in diameter in nearby Middleton. One car dealership sustained damage to all 200 cars in their sales lot.
We had a few loud smacks on our roof as the storm arrived last night, but that was it. I’m so thankful because we had a serious hailstorm in mid-April five years ago, and I never want to experience that again.
In that storm, the hail shield covered such a large area that you could hear it coming from miles away. My husband and I were outside trying to cover the windshield of our vehicle with a blanket. Our scheme actually worked, but the hood still got pockmarked by the golf-ball-sized hailstones that pounded our neighborhood—and much of the city—for several minutes. Our neighbor wasn’t so lucky. He was driving down a nearby highway as the storm arrived, and his back windshield was smashed out by the giant balls of ice.
After the storm someone was whining on a local news website that they didn’t get to see any of the large hailstones at their house. Believe me, it’s not something you want to witness firsthand, unless perhaps you’re visiting another city and your car is tucked safely in an underground parking ramp.
When giant hailstones pummel your house, it sounds like the roof is cracking apart. Meanwhile everything outside is fair game for damage: vehicles, siding, gutters, grills, trash cans, bird feeders, patio furniture and even downspouts.
Almost every roof in our neighborhood was replaced that summer, and there were thousands of insurance claims for vehicle and siding damage.
If I recall, we had several smaller hailstorms that year too. I’m hoping Mother Nature gave it all she had the other night, and we’ll be spared further wrath for the rest of the year.