Trekking between H-Town and DFW this afternoon. Was mid-90, then approaching Madisonville, the sky darkened, and temp dropped to 79. Then *BAM*, it started hailing, up to golf ball size hails. And all these folks decided to get on the shoulder and waited. WTF? It's not like you're under any overpass. Your cars have zero protection, whether you stop or drive. And there was no blinding rain that you needed to stop and wait. Luckily, no cracked windshield.

Am I missing something here?

Instagram?

They do it in heavy rain too. Like you, in that situation, I’m looking for an overpass, a gas station, something to pull under. The last time this happened to me I was on the way back from COTA. I did a track day there, then the MotoGP weekend, and was worn out driving back to DFW Monday morning after the race. I rented a U-haul van and put in my chock so the bike is right behind me in the cargo van. Starts hailing pretty bad, and a truck ahead spotted some trees to duck under, 3-4 trees, with a good sized canopy. I duck in behind him, under the trees, and he starts moving around in his seat, pissed. Why buddy? Trying to save my rental vehicle just like you are trying to save your truck. Geez. Other people, like you said, did the deer in the headlights deal and just pulled off the road, no cover whatsoever. I’m thinking this got damn rental cargo van isn’t even mine, and I got the optional insurance, but I’m still wired to go into protection mode. People are idiots.

quote:

Luckily, no cracked windshield.

Maybe you answered your own question? Depending on the size of the hail, I might pull over too. I'd rather be stationary if suddenly my windshield gets busted. I also get over/off the road if the rain is overpowering my windshield wipers.

I would not want to drive in a hail storm of that magnitude. Ideally, an overpass would be nice, but if one isn't available, I'd pull over. Do you want to be going over 55 when your windshield shatters from hail? That sounds like a good way to get hurt or cause an accident.

One could argue that you aren't adding to the impact energy of the hail if you stop, but I think it's more of a safety issue.

I’d stop as well. One reason is I’d rather be stopped if my windshield gets hosed, but also by being stopped I’ve reduced the relative velocity of the hail hitting my car which will reduce the severity of damage.

Since the initial question has been answered, the next question is:

How fast does hail fall?

“For small hailstones (<1-inch in diameter), the expected fall speed is between 9 and 25 mph. For hailstones that one would typically see in a severe thunderstorm (1-inch to 1.75-inch in diameter), the expected fall speed is between 25 and 40 mph. In the strongest supercells that produce some of the largest hail one might expect to see (2-inches to 4-inches in diameter), the expected fall speed is between 44 and 72 mph. However, there is much uncertainty in these estimates due to variability in the hailstone’s shape, degree of melting, fall orientation, and the environmental conditions. However, it is possible for very large hailstones (diameters exceeding 4-inches) to fall at over 100 mph.“ NOAA link

I wouldn’t Rear Admiral Farragut golf ball sized hail. Damn the torpedoes…

I'd go with inability or unwillingness to be moving. Poor visibility, severe hydroplaning, or any number of other factors might be in play. Your car might be doing better than theirs.

I had a buick whose ignition would ground out in a heavy dew. I had a toyota that would hydroplane and go sideways on a spilled coffee. I would have pulled over both in a sudden downpour, no questions asked.

Stopping can reduce the severity of hail impacts on the windshield.

As for overpasses many hail storms are accompanied by severe winds. Folks have been cautioned for years about avoiding parking under overpasses as tornadic winds can really ruin your day.

"Parking under an overpass during a storm can be extremely dangerous. Here are some reasons why:

Increased wind speed: The narrow passage underneath an overpass can cause an increase in wind speed, making it a hazardous location to be during a storm.
Flying debris: Parking under an overpass puts you at risk of being hit by flying debris, which can be blown into and channeled under the overpass.
Bridge failure: The bridge may also fail, causing more debris and even the possibility of collapse.
Blocking traffic: Parking under an overpass can block traffic, potentially putting yourself and others at risk of collision.
Inadequate shelter: Overpasses are not designed to provide adequate shelter from severe weather conditions, making them a poor choice for seeking refuge during a storm."

Hail stones can be like marbles or ball bearing on the road surface.
Easy to lose control.
I was passenger in a car once that momentarily lost control on hail.
Has a real pucker factor.

If enough hailstones hit the road, it is going to get mighty slippery. Just plain rain, if heavy enough, will drastically reduce your visibility, especially at night. I might pull over under such circumstances myself, if it can be done safely, e.g., the road shoulder is wide enough and the car behind me isn't too close.

A friend was in a major hailstorm and while driving his sunroof was shattered, and he ended up all bloodied over it. Fortunately, he had to wherewithal to be able to pull over pretty quickly there after.

Perhaps not everyone would?

quote:

Am I missing something here?

Yes, more likely to damage windshield/car and slippery roads.as others have stated.

As far as damaged windshield, the basic physics behind it is Force = 0.5 * mass * velocity^2. Let's take the hypothetical case that we have only one variable (i.e velocity) and we keep everything else identical (e.g. size of hail, speed of hail, angle of hail, angle of windshield, etc). To make the math easy, let's say that you drove at the exact speed that resulted in doubling the speed of the hail hitting your windshield. Since the velocity is squared then the windshield is getting four times the force compared to if the vehicle was stopped.

As far as the slippery roads, the obvious thing is it's millions of balls of ice. The less obvious thing is the hail can form ice dams and block sewers making it more likely cars hydroplane. When I lived in SoCal, my coworker did not live in a flood plain, but his house flooded during a violent thunderstorm due to the hail plugging the drain.

I can't remember if they've torn it out, but back when I lived in the DFW outskirts the TXDOT rocket surgeons used to have section of I-45 (i.e. highway between Houston and Dallas) with curb and gutter. It was easy to hydroplane during a hard rain, but add a little hail plugging the drains and speed demons are going to be hydroplaning left and right.

I’ve pulled way off the road in the past for summer deluge thunderstorms where I can’t see a foot in front of my car due to the sheer amount of water pouring from the sky, I’d imagine it’s the same with hail, visibility goes to near zero.

I would have just stopped in the Buccees in Madisonville………..

I got caught in a hailstorm on the highway once and cars stopped under a bridge. Just literally stopped their cars there and left everyone else out in the hail. The honking got so bad that they eventually started driving.

Lot's of people are really terrible drivers and probably have old wiper blades too.

As long as they pull well off to the side and have their flashers and lights on so they don't get hit by others, I'm glad they do pull off instead of continuing to drive at 10MPH.

I’ve stopped to avoid having the windshield broken completely out. Losing the grill, headlights, etc., is great incentive to pull over. I will grant it is very rarely a storm to that level.

I will venture to say many cars have lousy wipers, well worn tires, a windshield greasy with bug guts, and a driver who has little experience on the highway system. If you are lucky they hit the 4-ways to point out they have no business out here. Little excuse to stop in travel lanes, that’s asking to be killed while killing others.

In the end it’s slightly better than stopping to wait on a huge wreck to be cleaned up. Everyone knows good people who have found themselves in over their heads in a number of situations. This is one of those things I guess.

On a trip to South Dakota some years back, we encountered hail that was like a snowstorm. Pea sized so wasn't damaging but in such quantity that the landscape and road was coated 2 inches thick. Appeared as the ground was covered in diamonds when the sun came out. It was like driving on ball bearings. Fortunately air was warm and the hail melted quickly. I have lived in the plains states all of my 75 years and have never seen anything like this again. Even the semis were pulled over for that storm. Have no idea what the measured rainfall for that would have been but obviously substantial in a short period of time.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Stopping can reduce the severity of hail impacts on the windshield.

As for overpasses many hail storms are accompanied by severe winds. Folks have been cautioned for years about avoiding parking under overpasses as tornadic winds can really ruin your day.

"Parking under an overpass during a storm can be extremely dangerous. Here are some reasons why:

Increased wind speed: The narrow passage underneath an overpass can cause an increase in wind speed, making it a hazardous location to be during a storm.
Flying debris: Parking under an overpass puts you at risk of being hit by flying debris, which can be blown into and channeled under the overpass.
Bridge failure: The bridge may also fail, causing more debris and even the possibility of collapse.
Blocking traffic: Parking under an overpass can block traffic, potentially putting yourself and others at risk of collision.
Inadequate shelter: Overpasses are not designed to provide adequate shelter from severe weather conditions, making them a poor choice for seeking refuge during a storm."

Bald1, for the win. Of course being from Rapid City you would know. We summered at Hart Ranch when full timing for 10 yrs got hit hard several times. Working grounds the last hard hail storm 2021 took us (the full grounds crew) two full weeks cleaning up the damage tree limbs in the park.