Ping, ping ping. Here's what it's like to drive into a big hailstorm in the name of science
Associated Press
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Tony Illenden crouches in a helmet and gloves outside Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle to scoop hail into a bag during a storm while on a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Levelland, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Project ICECHIP member and Central Michigan University student Jeanette Cavin inflates a weather balloon in a protective shelter to launch a radiosonde to collect data Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tucumcari, N.M. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Project ICECHIP members from Northern Illinois University on the black team including Evelynn Mantia, left, and Olivena Carlisle, lower right, inflate a weather balloon with a radiosonde attached to collect data Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tucumcari, N.M. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Red team and Project ICECHIP members Wyatt Ficek, left, and Ethan Mok, right, release a latex weather balloon with an attached instrument called a windsond into the inflow region of a storm to collect data during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, near Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Red team and Project ICECHIP members Wyatt Ficek, left, and Ethan Mok, right, release a latex weather balloon with an attached instrument called a windsond into the inflow region of a storm to collect data during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, near Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A weather balloon soars in the sky that was released by members of Project ICECHIP's black team to collect data Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter is silhouetted near Lubbock, Texas, Friday, June 6, 2025, during a Project ICECHIP operation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Joey Toniolo, from left, Tim Marshall and Tony Illenden stand next to Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter as storm clouds gather during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Meadow, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Project ICECHIP members, from left, Ethan Mok, Logan Bundy, Nathan Sonntag, Victor Gensini and Katie Wargowsky sit in chairs next to the command vehicle waiting for storms to develop Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Members of Project ICECHIP inspect shingles for hail damage during an operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor and a lead scientist of Project ICECHIP, works on a laptop in the command vehicle as members of Project ICECHIP stage at a Valero gas station Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Brownfield, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Tony Illenden, a member of Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter team, picks up hail during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, near Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Storm clouds form during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Joey Toniolo ducks from falling hail as he moves back to Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Tony Illenden, left, and Tim Marshall measure a large hail shaped like a rose between the front seats of Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A hailstorm is visible from Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Levelland, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Cars dive away from a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Integrated Remote & In-Situ Sensing (IRISS) lab out of the University of Colorado Boulder and Project ICECHIP members, from left, Cu Gomez-Faulk, Ryan Downey, Madison Ritsch and Andrew Mord sit atop what they call "Tracker One" in the Allsup's Convenience Store parking lot waiting for a storm, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tucumcari, N.M. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Dashboard mascots Zeus, left, and Tor, right, sit in a car as AC/DC's Back in Black plays on the stereo in Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle, as they drive into a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation, Friday, June 6, 2025, near Levelland, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Pumpjacks operate during a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, near Levelland, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Tony Illenden crouches in a helmet and gloves outside Northern Illinois University's Husky Hail Hunter vehicle to scoop hail into a bag during a storm while on a Project ICECHIP operation Friday, June 6, 2025, in Levelland, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)