Residents shared images and videos of the hail on social media platforms. For instance, KSAT Connect featured photos showing golf ball-sized hail in areas like Stevens High School and Culebra and Westover Hills. ​KENS5 and FoxSanAntonio posted pics and videos from nearby residents. Check out our Insta reel with some of the most compelling highlights!

The far west side of San Antonio, including the Loop 1604 and Potranco area, appeared to be among the hardest-hit regions. Videos captured heavy rain and quarter-sized hail, reducing visibility on neighborhood streets. ​

Despite the intensity of the storm, the rain-cooled air led to a pleasant evening, with temperatures dropping into the upper 60s to 70s. Looking ahead, scattered storms with minimal impact are possible over the upcoming weekend, with temperatures expected to range from the mid-80s to low 90s. 

Hail formation—especially the large hail San Antonio experienced—is a fascinating (and intense!) weather phenomenon tied closely to the strength of thunderstorms. Why did the hail form?

Hail forms inside strong thunderstorm clouds—specifically cumulonimbus clouds—when there are powerful updrafts (rising currents of air). Here’s the science behind it:

Supercooled Water Droplets
High in the storm cloud, temperatures are well below freezing, and water droplets remain in a liquid state below 32°F. These are called supercooled droplets.

Nucleus Formation
These droplets latch onto particles (like dust or pollen) and start to freeze—this becomes the nucleus of a hailstone.

Updrafts
Strong winds within the thunderstorm carry the tiny frozen stones upward, where they encounter more supercooled droplets. Each time they go up, they grow in layers—like an onion.

Hailstone Growth Cycle
The up-and-down motion in the storm can happen multiple times. Each cycle adds more layers of ice, increasing the size of the hailstone.

Gravity Wins
Eventually, the hailstone becomes too heavy for the updraft to support, and it falls to the ground—sometimes at speeds over 90 mph!

Several factors made this storm ideal for producing large hail in San Antonio:

• The strength of the thunderstorm determines how long hailstones stay aloft to grow
  
  
• Reports from the March 31 storm showed hail up to golf ball and ping-pong ball size—which means the updrafts were strong enough to keep those stones suspended through several growth cycles
  
  
• The atmosphere was very unstable—a sharp contrast between warm, moist air near the surface and cold air aloft
  
  
• This instability supercharged the storm, helping hailstones form quickly and grow large
  
  
• Plenty of moisture in the atmosphere (likely from Gulf moisture moving inland) provided a continuous source of supercooled water for hailstones to grow
  
  
• The storm likely had supercell characteristics, meaning it was rotating and well-organized
  
  
• Supercells are notorious for producing large hail due to their powerful updrafts and long lifespan

Weather radar can detect hail with a feature called dual-polarization, which picks up irregular shapes and high reflectivity in storms. The National Weather Service issued alerts predicting ping-pong-sized hail due to those radar signatures and storm conditions.

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