Intense storms swept through Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday and brought whipping winds, possible tornadoes, and what some described as “gorilla hail.”

In the state of Kansas, there were reports of hail that was almost the size of a softball, measuring 4 inches (10 centimeters), in the town of Wabaunsee. In addition, there were reports of 3-inch (7.6-centimeter) hail near Junction City and Fort Riley in Geary County.

The National Weather Service has provided some information about hail, which includes the following facts:

Hail is a type of frozen precipitation that forms during thunderstorms, typically in the spring and summer months in the U.S.

Powerful upward currents inside a thunderstorm sweep up minuscule particles, known as ice nuclei, to which water solidifies when it reaches the freezing point in the atmosphere.

Tiny pieces of frozen water begin to come together and when they attempt to drop towards the ground, they may be thrown back up to the upper part of the storm by another upward current. With each cycle of rising and falling temperatures, another layer of ice accumulates until the hail becomes dense enough to descend to the Earth’s surface.

According to Mark Fuchs, a senior hydrologist at the National Weather Service, the size of hail can vary greatly, ranging from the size of a penny to larger than an apple, depending on the strength of the updraft.

According to Fuchs, when the updraft is stronger, hail can grow larger. Anything over two inches is considered to be very large.

Pea: ¼ inch

Mothball: ½ inch

Penny: ¾ inch

Nickel: 7/8 inch

In severe weather, hail that measures at least one inch in size is classified as a quarter.

The diameter of a Ping Pong ball is 1.5 inches.

Golf ball: 1¾ inch

Tennis ball: 2½ inches

Baseball: 2¾ inches

Large apple: 3 inches

Softball: 4 inches

Grapefruit: 4½ inches

In the United States, the largest recorded hailstone was comparable to the size of a volleyball. This happened on July 23, 2010, in Vivian, South Dakota, and it measured 8 inches across and weighed nearly 2 pounds.

Hail is responsible for approximately $1 billion in damages to crops and property every year. The most expensive hailstorm to hit in the United States was on April 10, 2001 in Kansas City, causing an estimated $2 billion in damage.

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Source: wral.com