SHAMROCK, Texas — As severe storms once again soak, twist and pelt the nation's midsection, a team of dozens of scientists is driving into them to study one of the nation's costliest but least-appreciated weather dangers: Hail.
Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor and a lead scientist of Project ICECHIP, right, and Logan Bundy, a doctoral candidate at NIU and ICECHIP IOP assistant, look at cloud formations during a Project ICECHIP operation June 3 south of Tipton, Okla.
Hannah Vagasky holds a foam board hail pad covered with impact dents in a parking lot June 3 in Shamrock, Texas, as the team prepares for a day of hailstorm chasing. The hail pad is used to measure the size, angle of impact and intensity of hail.
Retired National Weather Service forecaster David Imy gestures to an approaching storm during a Project ICECHIP operation June 3 near Tipton, Okla. He's part of a team of scientists driving into severe storms to study hail.
Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor and a lead scientist of Project ICECHIP, right, and Logan Bundy, a doctoral candidate at NIU and ICECHIP IOP assistant, left, stand at the command vehicle watching an approaching storm June 3 in Scotland, Texas.
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Hannah Vagasky holds a foam board hail pad covered with impact dents in a parking lot June 3 in Shamrock, Texas, as the team prepares for a day of hailstorm chasing. The hail pad is used to measure the size, angle of impact and intensity of hail.
Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor and a lead scientist of Project ICECHIP, right, and Logan Bundy, a doctoral candidate at NIU and ICECHIP IOP assistant, look at cloud formations during a Project ICECHIP operation June 3 south of Tipton, Okla.
Retired National Weather Service forecaster David Imy gestures to an approaching storm during a Project ICECHIP operation June 3 near Tipton, Okla. He's part of a team of scientists driving into severe storms to study hail.
Victor Gensini, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor and a lead scientist of Project ICECHIP, right, and Logan Bundy, a doctoral candidate at NIU and ICECHIP IOP assistant, left, stand at the command vehicle watching an approaching storm June 3 in Scotland, Texas.
