The Weather Storm That Does More Damage Than Washingtonians Think

We have our share of storms around Washington State.  Some areas see different damaging weather events more frequently than others.  The west side sees more rain storms along with thunder and lightening than the east side.  In extreme cases those on the west side could suffer the impact of an earthquake caused tsunami.

The east side has their wind and blowing dust storms that at time can leave visibility less than your hand in front of your face.  It's not unusual to see a 'dust devil' twirling during one of those storms.  Ice storms also happen in the winter which something they really only hear about on the other side of the Cascades.

Those that live in higher elevation areas, like on either side of the multiple mountain passes, deal with a whole different set of weather extremes.   There is one type of storm that does impact both sides and doesn't get talked about much.  Partly because they don't happen as often as the aforementioned storms (minus the tsunami), but that doesn't mean they should be taken lightly.

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The Damage Can Be So Much More Than It Appears...and Deadly

We are too familiar with the damage that wildfires can cause.  Even though well over 90% are human caused, lightning maybe number two on the list.  In extremely dry conditions, like we saw this summer, lightning was responsible for a number of wildfires in Washington State as well as Oregon.

I mentioned wildfires because they fall into weather caused damage, but we prepare for those every year.  There is one we never, and really can't prepare for that can do massive damage to property and in some cases, can take lives.

Hail Wreaks Havoc When it Falls

The type of hail in the photo above is referred to as "grapefruit sized" hail because it is more than 4 1/2 inches across.  Hail that size can break windows, dent cars, damage roofs and siding on homes and building, kill livestock, and even a person under the wrong circumstances.

What Exactly Is Hail?

It's going to sound weird but hail is rain that falls upward...yup upward.  It gets pulled by the updrafts from thunderstorms and then freezes, before it begins it's descent as a ball of ice.  It is rare that someone dies as a direct result of being hit with hail, but it has happened four times this century, the last on record being in 2008.  The damage caused by the little balls of ice traveling at crazy speeds has reached into the billions of dollars.

I can remember vividly we had a hail storm in Tri-Cities in 2016.  It was the week before Memorial Day and I was in Downtown Kennewick for a crawfish boil and other festivities.  Then the sky opened up and we were pelted by hail.  Everyone tool cover as fast as they could as it sounded like someone was playing the drums with all of the hail bouncing off of cars, tents, and buildings.

I reached out to Jason Hogue with American Family Insurance to ask about insurance policies and how hail is treated.  He told me that the majority of auto and homeowners policies cover hail damage.  In areas of the country where hail storms are more prevalent, like the Southeast and Midwest, they are policies that have different deductibles for hail damage.

Jason also told me that American Family Insurance does not do that in any of their policies in Washington State, Oregon, or Idaho, but he couldn't speak to if other insurance companies in the Pacific Northwest has different deductibles for hail damage.  researchers in the Midwest have announced they plan a study (backed by the National Science Foundation) to learn more about the affects of hail.

It has been estimated that hail caused $10 billion a year in damage per year over the last decade and a half.  In May of this year, hail was responsible for the death of livestock in Colorado.  Here in Washington in 2022, north of Kelso, a sudden hail storm on I-5 was blamed a number of accidents that resulted in one death and left drivers in gridlock for hours.