Baseball-sized 'gorilla hail' rains down causing chaos amid tornado warning

14 March 2024 , 16:35

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Baseball-sized 'gorilla hail' rains down causing chaos amid tornado warning

Residents faced a terrifying night of weather as 'gorilla hail' the size of baseballs fell during a tornado warning that had officials urging people to stay indoors and take cover.

Severe weather conditions in Kansas and Missouri brought traffic to a standstill along Interstate 70 with three unconfirmed reports of tornadoes. There were reports of damaged structures after tornadoes hit near Alta Vista, Kansas, and Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service will be heading out today to evaluate the damage. Local storm chasers captured footage of the tornado at around 7.47pm local time. Among those chasing the storms was extreme meteorologist and star of Storm Chasers, Reed Timmer.

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A terrifying tornado was spotted touching down just outside of Alta Vista, Kansas (KSN TV/Youtube)

"Big time tornado, we just intercepted it," he said as he pursued one of the numerous thunderstorms that erupted over the Plains on Wednesday night. While pictures and videos of the tornadoes show a terrifying and intense storm, it was hail that was the main danger facing many residents.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Storm Prediction Center received more than 150 reports of hail, but this wasn't just any sized hail. Parts of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma were pelted with chunks of ice the size of baseballs and grapefruits, with golf ball-sized hail reported in Illinois.

Storms brought massive chunks of hail to parts of Kansas and Missouri (AP)

The National Weather Service in Topeka said quarter-size hail and wind gusts up to 60mph were expected across northern Kansas overnight until 6am on Thursday. Descriptions of the hail ranged from the size of golf balls and apples to softballs and baseballs. Alex Sosnowski, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, previously said the predicted hail was deemed "gorilla hail" because it had the potential to be so big.

Meanwhile, the small town of Alta Vista in northeast Kansas saw terrifying scenes as a tornado was spotted touching down just east of the town on Wednesday night. Tornado watches were issued by the National Weather Service for Atchison, Coffey, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Miami, Morris, Osage, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee and Wyandotte counties and remain in effect until 2am Thursday.

The 'gorilla hail' could do serious damage (AP)

"Gorilla hail" is a term coined by Reed Timmer, a storm chaser who calls himself an extreme meteorologist, Mr Sosnowski said, as some hail from north-central Kansas into north-central Missouri could be as big as a baseball. "When you get up to tennis ball, baseball-sized or God forbid softball-sized, that can do a tremendous amount of damage, and if you get hit in the head, that could be fatal," Sosnowski said.

Severe weather conditions have been hitting the two US states (AP)

Traffic came to a standstill for a time on part of Interstate 70 because of the falling hail, the National Weather Service said on X. Images of large hail chunks and at least one cracked windshield were shown on KSHB-TV.

Late Wednesday, forecasters issued tornado warnings in the areas around Topeka and to the north, while severe thunderstorm warnings were issued northeast of Kansas City in Missouri. "If you are in this warning, get away from windows and shelter inside now!!!" the National Weather Service posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Large chunks of hail compared to the size of a golf ball (AP)

The weather service said the storm had previously produced "softball-sized hail," or 3.5-inch (8.9-centimeter) chunks. The weather service also issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas through Thursday morning, after which forecasters said the storm will move to the east.

While the hail threat lessens Thursday, meteorologists said heavy rain and high winds were still possible from northeastern Texas through central Missouri. The biggest threat on Friday is for torrential rain - perhaps up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) in some spots - in a line from central Louisiana up through central Arkansas, Sosnowski said.

Chiara Fiorillo