From the archive: Photos of the 1995 Mayfest hailstorm in Fort Worth and North Texas

Bud Kennedy
·1 min read

It started with a report of baseball-size hail in far west Fort Worth.

Fifteen minutes later, about 7:15 on the evening of May 5, 1995, thousands of revelers at the annual Mayfest family festival in Trinity Park were bombarded by baseball-size hailstones.

Sixty people were injured at the festival alone.

The hail grew to softball-size as it passed through east Fort Worth, bashing carports and small sheds to the ground.

Sixteen people died in flooding and more than 400 people across North Texas suffered injuries in what was then the second most damaging storm in Texas history — exceeded only by 1983’s Hurricane Alicia.

At the time, it was the worst hailstorm on record in the U.S.

Here are some of the photos from that day:

Giant hailstones at Mayfest in Trinity Park, May 5, 1995.
Giant hailstones at Mayfest in Trinity Park, May 5, 1995.
Steam rises from large hail, creating an eerie fog in Trinity Park at Mayfest May 5, 1995.
Steam rises from large hail, creating an eerie fog in Trinity Park at Mayfest May 5, 1995.
Patti Rhoades removes broken pieces of art made by her husband John from their booth at Mayfest in Trinity Park. May 6, 1995. (FWST/RON JENKINS)
Patti Rhoades removes broken pieces of art made by her husband John from their booth at Mayfest in Trinity Park. May 6, 1995. (FWST/RON JENKINS)
The day after the hail storm, Mayfest volunteers Charlotte Cummings and Judy Bohnsack walk past a damaged food booth in Trinity Park. May 6, 1995.
The day after the hail storm, Mayfest volunteers Charlotte Cummings and Judy Bohnsack walk past a damaged food booth in Trinity Park. May 6, 1995.
Mayfest committee volunteers Missy Carson and Charlotte Cummings survey broken glass and hammered cars at Trinity Park May 6, 1995, the day after the hailstorm.
Mayfest committee volunteers Missy Carson and Charlotte Cummings survey broken glass and hammered cars at Trinity Park May 6, 1995, the day after the hailstorm.
A fort Worth firefighter helps a woman into an ambulance at the Farrington Field triage unit set up to help many of the people those injured in the Mayfest hailstorm May 5, 1995, in Trinity Park.
A fort Worth firefighter helps a woman into an ambulance at the Farrington Field triage unit set up to help many of the people those injured in the Mayfest hailstorm May 5, 1995, in Trinity Park.
Emergency crews help an injured woman into an ambulance at the Farrington Field triage unit set up to help those injured in the hailstorm at Mayfest in Trinity Park May 5, 1995.
Emergency crews help an injured woman into an ambulance at the Farrington Field triage unit set up to help those injured in the hailstorm at Mayfest in Trinity Park May 5, 1995.