What the Hail?

[KBayDog]

Just had a very freak, very violent, and very DANGEROUS hail storm in Milton. Ice the size of softballs. I was leaving NASWF and had to find shelter under the CDC overhang by the gate. Dented the crap out of my car, but I was one of the lucky ones. Plenty o' broken windshields & downed power lines to go around.

Attached are some pics, taken about 30 mins after the storm (the hail has melted considerably since it first fell). Can't wait to see what the damages are to the aircraft at NASWF...

 

[DanMa1156]

Holy crap! Hope everyone and the aircraft are ok.

 

[Skidtz]

For those not on base - I drove around and did not see any broken windshields unattended. (had to check on some cross country vehicles, so made the rounds.)

Also, from the road, the 57's look okay, but I don't know how the full monocoque tail booms took it. Couldn't see shattered windscreens from the parking lot.

The rock is average size, some were a lot bigger.

if you zoom in you'll see the holes in the canopy, also looks like the vert stab got crunched.

-sbo-

looks like the hail popped the hydraulic filler door open, too.

 

[Skidtz]

Hard to say - didn't go to the lines. The maintenance guys were like ants on the hill, zooming about in their golf carts.

From the looks of the display bird, we could have holes. But all the T34s are covered.

Couldn't see shattered 57 windscreens from the parking lot.

Also, didn't hear any fire trucks or ambulances, so probly no injured personnel. Talked to a couple'a marines driving up 87 when it started. They said that was something.

 

[rare21]

thank God i decided to put my car under the carport last night during the Fog. and i just washed the damn thing too!

 

[Schnugg]

Thank god you weren't flying thyrough that.

Was the sky ominous or was it sort of a surprise hailstorm not really associated with obvious cumulo nimbis clouds?

 

[nittany03]

It just came up right out of nowhere. I think we actually just got the edge of the cell. It was a HUGE blotch of red on the NOAA site. That said, you could see the storm coming but the hail just started out of nowhere. Lasted no more than 5 minutes and then turned into really heavy rain for another 5 to 10 minutes, then cleared right up. Dented the sh!t out of my hood . . . :icon_rage

 

[Penguin]

Just got word that 1/2 of the T-34s are grounded..."taken out" was the word. Our schedule is going to be cut by 50% for Monday. Don't have any idea how many of those are trashed versus repairable. This oughtta slow things down again.

 

[rare21]

any word on the 57s? we're getting another wave right now but it doesnt look like hail again yet.

 

[hendogg311]

yep me too. I looked out my window this morning and saw the black sky and said to myself this doesn't look good. About 20 minutes later bang bang bang bang came the hail. Car has dents on it. One guy had a hail stone go through his rear window. Not sure about the airplanes, they must be damaged those hail stones were huge, flus falling from 20,000'+ gives them some impact speed.

 

[KBayDog]

As I was driving off base, I saw a couple walking on the sidewalk near the planes on a stick. There was a little lightning a few miles away, and I was going to offer them a ride, but they looked alright. Not even 5 seconds later the skies opened up. I hope they are okay.

As I was driving south, I saw a hitchhiker wearing a bike helmet, riding shorts, bike shoes, etc. Not your average hitchhiker (couldn't pack much heat in bike shorts!) He ditched his bike (smart thinking) and needed a ride back to his car in town. First time I ever picked up a hitchhiker! Then again, nobody needed to be outside when this thing struck.

There are rumors about some funnel clouds, and with all the downed lines/branches, I wouldn't doubt it. Either way, this morning reinforced just how dangerous thunderstorms are.

 

[KBayDog]

Thank god you weren't flying thyrough that.

Was the sky ominous or was it sort of a surprise hailstorm not really associated with obvious cumulo nimbis clouds?

It was kind of like a scene from The Neverending Story...but without flying dragons and horses.

 

[rare21]

damage

Whats left of our fleet ladies and gentlemen...

 

[Acoustix99]

Hm, looks like i may have some downtime in my near future....

 

[lowflier03]

Talked to a maintainer today. The big problems are the water soaked avionics from the holes in the windscreens, and the damaged rotor blades. Apparently there arent nearly enough spares in the system so they are talking about ordering some new ones from Bell or somewhere. The flight schedule for tomorrow is supposed to only have 4 helos per squadron. The guy said it might be 3 weeks or so till they are flyable again.