Hail — Hancock, Ohio

2011-05-25 · near Findlay, Hancock, Ohio

Event narrative

A supercell thunderstorm moved across Hancock County. Hail as large as baseballs fell in association with this thunderstorm. The western half of the city of Findlay was especially hard hit. Golf ball or larger hail affected an area bordered by State Route 12 to the south, Township Road 99 to the north, County Road 140 to the west and roughly Main Street to the east. As many as 4,000 homes and business in this area may have been damaged by the hail. Thousands of automobiles also sustained damage from the hail. One automobile dealership on the north side of Findlay had over 400 vehicles damaged by the hail. Hundreds of homes also sustained damage from broken windows or damaged siding. This event could end up being one of costliest hail storms in Ohio history.

Wider weather episode

Between May 25th and May 26th heavy rainfall occurred as a warm front lifted north across the area. A strong southerly flow, ahead of a cold front, transported very moist air through Tennessee, Kentucky and into Ohio on the 25th. Surface dew points were in the 60s. Wave after wave in the mid and upper levels helped trigger widespread showers, with embedded thunderstorms. High rainfall rates of over an inch per hour occured with the stronger storms, resulting in widespread flood warnings across Northern Ohio. The showers continued into the evening hours, and then reformed early on the 26th. By this point the ground was saturated and streams and creeks were running high. Additional storms compounded lingering flooding conditions, necessitating a second round of widespread flood warnings. Numerous state and local routes in the area were closed because of the quickly rising and flowing water.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.0300, -83.6500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 310776. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.