The Biggest Hail Recorded In Illinois Was Almost 5 Inches Wide And Caused Some Problems

July and August is "hail season" here in the Midwest. Northern Illinois is forecasted to possibly get some hail today.

NOTE: Since this was tweeted out, the likelihood of hail has diminished but strong winds are still very much in the forecast.

If you've lived in the Midwest for any length of time, you probably have a hail horror story of your own. The time you got caught outside in golf ball hail, or had to get your roof replaced after a particularly nasty summer storm.

My story just happened a few years ago. It was 2017 and my sister had just purchased a brand new car earlier that week. We were caught in a massive hail storm that sent what had to be at least racquetball sized hail down on Loves Park, and her brand new car.

My sister's was one of hundreds of insurance claims filed from that storm, and it took months to finally fix.

But that hail was only about 2 inches max in diameter. That doesn't even come close to the record setting hail that was found in Minooka, IL on June 10th in 2015.

That's when Lauren and Joe Geiselman of Minooka found and documented this 4.75" beast in their backyard.

It was only the 24th time since 1950 that hail at least 4" in diameter was found in Illinois and only the 6th time it had ever happened in Cook County.

Unfortunately, there's no real good way to protect yourself from hail damage. Make sure your car is in the garage, and your dog is inside. After that, it's in the laps of the insurance companies.