Hail in Hays County, Texas

The team began the survey along IH-35 near Center Point Road. They noted widespread damage to trees and vegetation beginning near that point and continuing northward to the San Marcos Tanger Outlet Mall and Prime Time Outlet Mall. The damage was caused by a combination of large hail and winds gusting 40 to 50 mph. NWS NEXRAD Radar late Thursday afternoon had indicated severe thunderstorms in that area moving toward the northeast.At the south end of the Malls, the parking lot surface was covered with dents and impressions produced by the wind and hail. Hundreds of vehicles had been damaged in this event but only a few remained in the area. Most of these had all of the window glass broken out with hundreds of hail dents in the car bodies. At this part of the Malls, damage to store signs was seen only on the north and west sides of buildings. There was no damage to signs on the south and east sides. Therefore, the storm winds had propelled the hail toward the southeast. In addition to the sign damage, hundreds of roof tiles had been broken and cracked, and many of these had fallen into the parking lot during the storm.As the team drove northward through the Mall areas, the same type of damage to building signs and roofs as well as parking surfaces was seen. However, at the north end of the Malls, damage to the store signs was confined to the south and west walls of the buildings. In this part of the Malls, the damaging winds had propelled the hail toward the northeast. Thus, the pattern of damage was fan-shaped, with the winds generally blowing the hail toward the west, but with a southeast component of motion on the south end of the Malls and a northeast component of motion on the north end of the Malls. This type of damage is clearly indicative of straight-line winds, also referred to as "downburst winds." One of the NWS staff members was at the Malls during the storm. Dents in his vehicle were 4.25 inches in diameter, indicating that at some of the hail stones were as large as grapefruits. He had estimated windspeeds to be between 60 and 70 mph.The team drove roads in all directions from the Mall areas and concluded that the severe wind and hail had caused the worst damage in an area enclosed by Wonder World Drive, Posey Road, Hunter Road, and FM266 which is also known as Old Bastrop Highway. Other areas of large hail and damaging winds were reported to the NWS, but the level of damage was generally more isolated and less severe.Damages from this storm were estimated at $100M with up to 10,000 vehicles damaged and another 7000 vehicles in homes in the area. Losses to businesses as a result of closing the following day were estimated at $500,000.