If your vehicle was parked outside in Springfield on Tuesday, April 28, there is a good chance it needs more than a wash. This was one of the most destructive hail events the metro has seen in years.
What the National Weather Service recorded
The National Weather Service office in Springfield documented a supercell that produced severe hail for two hours and twenty minutes as it tracked through Barry, Lawrence, Christian, Greene, Dallas, Webster, Laclede and Camden counties.
The largest stone measured 4.75 inches — the NWS described it as larger than a grapefruit and the size of a CD. Forecasters recovered a 4 inch stone at the Springfield office itself, and that was after roughly thirty minutes of melting.
Greene County law enforcement responded to 29 vehicle crashes during the storm. Around 10,000 customers lost power immediately afterward, and the NWS reported damage to roofing, vinyl siding, gutters and windows alongside thousands of damaged vehicles.
Why 4-inch hail is a different category of damage
Below about an inch, hail tends to leave shallow, round dents that paintless dent repair removes cleanly. At two inches and up, three things change:
- Glass breaks. Windshields, sunroofs and backglass crack rather than chip.
- Metal stretches. A deep impact can thin the panel, which changes how a
technician has to work it and how long it takes.
- Edges and body lines get hit. Damage on a crease or a panel edge is the
slowest kind to repair properly.
At 4.75 inches you are looking at all three at once. That does not automatically mean a repaint or a total loss, but it does mean the estimate needs to be written by someone who works hail specifically.
What to do now
1. Photograph it before you move it. Date-stamped photos of the vehicle where it sat, plus close-ups of the glass, help the claim. 2. Open your claim. Hail is a comprehensive claim. In most states it does not raise your rate the way an at-fault collision does, though that varies by carrier and policy. 3. Get the estimate written under lights. Hail damage is close to invisible in a parking lot. It has to be read under proper reflective lighting to be scoped correctly, which is why we do estimates in person. 4. Do not accept a scope you have not seen. Ask for the dent count by panel. A short estimate is the single most common reason a repair later needs a supplement.
Our crews deploy to hail-affected regions rather than working from a fixed shop, so if you are in the Springfield area and need a vehicle looked at, schedule an in-person estimate and we will tell you where the bay is working out of.