On Sunday, May 25, 2025, powerful storms rolled across Central Texas, bringing along some of the largest hailstones ever seen in the state. While hail during spring storms isn’t uncommon in Texas, the size of these hailstones shocked even seasoned storm watchers—some were reportedly as large as DVDs or bigger.
Hail Reports Escalate Quickly Across Texas
Storm activity began to pick up in the early afternoon. According to the Storm Prediction Center, initial hail reports came in by mid-afternoon, but within just a few hours, they intensified dramatically. Some hailstones were larger than softballs, and one standout report documented a 6-inch hailstone—larger than a standard DVD disc, which is about 4.7 inches across.
Meteorologist Doug Warner shared a photo of the 6-inch hailstone on Facebook. While many of the largest stones had already begun to melt before being photographed, they still made it clear how powerful this storm system really was.
How Does a Hailstone Grow to the Size of a DVD?
For hailstones to reach such massive sizes, several intense factors have to come together inside a thunderstorm:
- Strong updrafts in the storm keep ice pellets suspended in the clouds.
- These pellets cycle up and down through the storm, collecting layer after layer of ice.
- To hold a 6-inch hailstone in the air long enough for it to grow, updrafts need to reach 112 mph or more, according to meteorologists at Fox Weather.
To put it into perspective:
- A grapefruit-sized hailstone (about 4.5 inches wide) requires winds of 103 mph.
- So a 6-inch piece of hail? That’s next-level weather.
Record-Breaking Hailstones in the U.S.
While Sunday’s storm in Texas was severe, it didn’t quite break the national record. The largest hailstone ever recorded in the United States fell in Vivian, South Dakota, on June 23, 2010.
- Size: 8 inches in diameter
- Weight: Nearly 2 pounds
Imagine something that size falling from the sky—that’s why large hail is considered extremely dangerous and even life-threatening.
Why You Should Take Severe Storm Warnings Seriously
You don’t need 8-inch hail to cause damage. Even much smaller hail can:
- Shatter windshields
- Dent cars
- Destroy rooftops
- Injure or even hospitalize people and animals
That’s why it’s so important to take shelter immediately if your area goes under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. The storms that hit Texas this weekend were a reminder of just how quickly things can escalate.