The worst hailstorms the Binghamton area has seen, including one in Vestal in 2011
The recent mid-April snowstorm that dumped over a foot of vey wet snow on Broome County caused thousands of dollars in damage, plunged about half of the county’s population into the dark, and upset schools, businesses and life around the region.
I suppose we should not be surprised at the storm; living in the Northeast, springtime storms are not out of the question. Of course, there is the discussion about climate change that can enter the equation, but often, someone will describe what occurred as a freak storm.
Every time I hear the expression, my mind wanders back to the joke told by the late comedian George Carlin giving his rendition of the news as he announced that “The San Diego freeway was the scene of a freak accident today as six freaks in a camper crashed into three freaks in a van.” As corny as that joke might be, it alludes to our use of the use of the word "freak" with strange and out-of-place events.
These “freak” events could allude to tornados or hurricanes, cataclysmic floods or snow totals. Yet, much less often, we think of less common weather events that have happened.
In this instance, I am referring to hail. Hail is defined as a ball formed with translucent layers of ice in the upper areas of thunderstorms. These balls of ice can range in size, from fairly small to upwards of 6 inches. There are countless videos on YouTube showing the storms dropping what can be deadly balls of ice upon an area.
Broome County, luckily, rarely has large-scale hailstorms. You will notice that I said rarely, but we are not immune.
One of the earliest mentions of a large-scale storm of this type can be found in the newspaper of May 8, 1864, when according to the account, nature “unleashes its fury on the city, hurling ice pellets the size of walnuts against rooftops, tree and windows.” Ouch!
When you read about such a storm with hail hitting the ground, the National Weather Service uses the terms golf ball, half-egg and baseball-sized hail. Golf ball hail is 1.75 inches in diameter, half-egg is 2 inches, and baseball-sized hail is 2.75 inches in diameter.
While large hail hitting our area is rare, it has happened over the years. There are times other than the one in 1864 when this has occurred.
On June 26, 1915, the Binghamton area was hit with a heavy hailstorm late that afternoon. Roses were already in bloom when a heavy rainstorm and hail hit the area. The hail was so heavy that nearly an inch of hail was on the ground in Binghamton. The newspaper reported that some residents rolled the hails into “snowballs” of ice and had hail fights among the roses and green grass. The weather experts noted that it was “freak of weather.”
That freak of weather hit the Newfield area in Tompkins County on May 3, 2012. On a hot early evening, a tremendous rainfall hit the area that included baseball-size hail stones that dented cars and other outdoor equipment. While there have been other storms around the region, one major and localized event in 2011 still recalls the unusualness of major hailstorms.
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On May 27, 2011, a rainstorm entered the region with a heavy presence of hail. While it did hit other areas, the hailstorm portion of the system seemed to be focused over the Town of Vestal. Large hail came down quickly and with such force that it did major damage to the area around Vestal Road. Most specifically, the hailstorm was of such force that it damaged approximately 600 vehicles at the Matthews Auto Group on that road.
These new and used vehicles were all hit, some suffering major damage. What to do in such a situation? Well, as the old adage says, you make lemonade. Matthews held a Hail Sale with discounts on over 500 of those vehicles, many of which were also covered by insurance.
An act of nature, an act of God — whatever it is, all I can say is, what the hail.
Gerald Smith is a former Broome County historian. Email him at historysmiths@stny.rr.com.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Hail in Binghamton area: The worst storms of past 150 years
