San Antonio, Boerne residents assess damage after significant hail storm

Hail as large as softballs reported in the area

A variety of large hail stones which fell in St. Hedwig May 3, 2021. Sent in by KSAT Connect User jdb2008 (Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

Less than a week after massive storms did damage in D’Hanis, Hondo, and Castroville, a pair of thunderstorms left behind paths of large hail through San Antonio and Boerne. Developing around 6 p.m. in Medina County, storms quickly formed thanks to heat, humidity, and a dryline. The combination of the three were enough to push through a cap on the atmosphere, creating sizable hail.

At one point, the supercell thunderstorm split, with a left-moving storm moving north to Boerne and a right-moving storm that traveled through San Antonio. The storms would travel long distances, dropping hail along the way.

The isolated supercells formed in an extremely unstable atmosphere.

Pictures and videos continued to come into our KSAT Connect, showing the size of the hail and the damage it was leaving behind.

Julian sent this in, showing damage to the windshield of his car.
KSAT Connect picture from MaggieRod near Mission Road.
KSAT Connect picture from jr092977 showing hail slightly smaller than softballs

Hail Swaths

Here are some images of the path of large hail through Boerne, central Bexar County, and east of San Antonio. The hail swath continued east through parts of eastern San Antonio and eventually along I-10 to just south of Seguin. Please note that these are radar estimated hail sizes. In truth, larger hailstones than indicated fell in spots within the hail swath.

If you think you have damage, you’ll want to document the date and size of hail when filing an insurance claim.

Radar indicated hail sizes from May 3, 2021 (Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
Radar indicated hail sizes from May 3, 2021 (Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
Radar indicated hail sizes from May 3, 2021

About the Authors

Justin Horne is a meteorologist and reporter for KSAT 12 News. When severe weather rolls through, Justin will hop in the KSAT 12 Storm Chaser to safely bring you the latest weather conditions from across South Texas. On top of delivering an accurate forecast, Justin often reports on one of his favorite topics: Texas history.

Sarah Spivey is a San Antonio native who grew up watching KSAT. She has been a proud member of the KSAT Weather Authority Team since 2017. Sarah is a Clark High School and Texas A&M University graduate. She previously worked at KTEN News. When Sarah is not busy forecasting, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and cat, and playing music.

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