Severe Weather, Lightning, and Hail Take Spotlight During Severe Weather Awareness Week

(KNSI) – Tuesday’s Severe Weather Awareness Week theme includes hail, which battered homes and led to a rash of repairs just a couple weeks ago.

As bad as those storms were, it could have been worse. Meteorologist Melissa Dye says a stone fell in the state last year that was about twice the width of a baseball. “I know up in far western Minnesota in Stevens County last year they had a record hailstone. I believe [it] was five inches or more.”

Dye notes hail can fall as fast as 100 miles an hour as it plunges to Earth from high in the atmosphere. Even regular-sized stones quickly become damaging when moving that quickly, both to property and people. In 2022, insurers faced significant losses due to the number of claims they had to pay out on. In response, premiums have soared by as much as 20% a year since.

Storms also produce high winds and lightning. Dye says lightning is a peril far away from the center of a storm. “How much lightning a storm produces doesn’t determine whether or not it’s severe, but all lightning is dangerous, so you can have lightning far out ahead of a storm. As far as 10 miles away.”

Severe thunderstorms are not uncommon in St. Cloud. The area averages over five days a year with at least an inch of rain. Heavy downpours typically occur with strong to severe storms.

___