Texas hail – A hailstone found near Vigo Park has been accepted as Texas’ largest on record, measuring 7.1 inches.
A hailstone so large it was reportedly spotted like a “gallon jug” in a roadside ditch has shattered Texas’ record for the biggest hail ever documented.
Misryoum reports that the ice was discovered in the Texas Panhandle near Vigo Park in Swisher County on June 2, 2024. After evaluation, the stone’s diameter was confirmed at 7.1 inches, surpassing the previous state record of 6.46 inches set in 2021.
The discovery happened during storm-chasing, when a chaser noticed unusually large hail on the ground and then spotted the massive sphere partially buried in mud. With the hail rapidly melting and no measuring tool available, he documented what he found using photos and familiar objects for scale.
This is exactly how extreme weather headlines go from “what is that?” to something official: careful documentation, repeated viewing from multiple angles, and then measurement that can stand up to scrutiny.
Once photographs were assembled, experts used photogrammetry, a method that estimates precise dimensions from images, to determine the hailstone’s size. Multiple measurements fell within a close range, with 7.1 inches selected as the most conservative and reliable figure.
Misryoum also notes that the Texas State Climate Extremes Committee reviewed the evidence and unanimously accepted the Vigo Park hailstone as the new record. The confirmation process matters because it turns a dramatic local find into a data point used for climate records and future comparisons.
Beyond breaking a benchmark, hailstones at this scale are a reminder of the damage strong storms can bring to homes, vehicles, and crops. Even when hail in the region may be smaller than this “monster,” the episode underscores how quickly spring and early-summer weather in Texas can escalate.
In the end, the record is less about spectacle and more about preparedness, because what gets measured also helps communities understand what to expect during the next intense storm cycle.