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Wind-driven baseball-sized hail destroys car windows, blisters siding of buildings in Nebraska

todayApril 18, 2025

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FREMONT, Neb.– Severe thunderstorms whipping baseball-sized hail amid wind gusts reaching hurricane force left a trail of significant damage across Nebraska on Thursday night. LARGE TORNADO SPOTTED IN IOWA AS SEVERE STORMS BLAST PLAINS ON THURSDAYVideo from a hotel in Fremont showed large hail stones bouncing into a hotel room through a window shattered during the storm. Wind gust reports from weather spotters in the area ranged from 67 to 82 mph as the storms blew through. After the storms had passed, video detailed the damage to the hotel building, with every window on the wind-facing side blown out. SNOW, SLEET, FREEZING RAIN AND HAIL: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?”Holy smokes,” said someone in the video, as they panned around the hotel. “Every window is gone.” Hail left cars in the parking lot badly dented, and their windows shattered; glass everywhere. “Here’s our ride home tomorrow,” the person says, showing a sedan with its back windshield smashed into tiny pieces. Photos from a home in Fremont show much of the same. The house’s siding was demolished, sticking off the house in shards. WHAT CAUSES HAIL TO BE DIFFERENT SIZES?Hailstones litter the ground underneath the house. With the siding ripped off and damaged, the pink house wrap is visible. Another photo shows the homeowner’s car significantly dented, windshield pelted in by hail. The yard in the back is white with more hail. In the background, hail covers a neighboring house’s roof. Hail in Fremont ranged from egg-sized to baseball-sized stones, with a report in nearby Arlington of 4-inch, softball-sized hail. Softball-sized hail was also observed in McClelland, Iowa. The severe weather threat continues into the weekend, with millions of Americans in the Midwest and Plains under the threat through Easter Sunday. 

Written by: The Dam Rock Station

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