Destructive Hailstorms Pound Parts of North Dakota, Montana

Jon Erdman
Published: July 11,2016
Wind-driven hailstorms pounded parts of North Dakota and eastern Montana on Sunday, damaging homes and vehicles.
Some of the worst damage was reported Killdeer, North Dakota, about 100 miles west-northwest of Bismarck, the state capital.
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Siding was damaged and windows were blown out in a hailstorm on July 10, 2016, in Killdeer, North Dakota.

Hail up to 3.25 inch diameter - larger than baseball size - smashed vehicle windows and stripped siding off several homes. Trees were also downed in the town of about 750 residents in western North Dakota.
Dunn County Emergency Manager Denise Brew told the Dickinson Press "the town looked like a war zone."
At least one skylight in a Killdeer nursing home was shattered, allowing rain and hail into some rooms and hallways. Many windows were blown up and later boarded up at the Hill Top Home of Comfort, the Dickinson Press reported.
(MORE: Large Hail An Underrated Danger)

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KX News - Bismarck ✔ @KXMB

More photos from #Killdeer. These at local nursing home.

9:20 PM - 10 Jul 2016 · Bismarck, ND, United States

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In some parts of town, hail was reportedly up to a foot deep, according to KX News.
One photo showed the classic green sky, or in this case, an aqua-colored sky, sometimes indicative of hailstorms.
(MORE: Why Skies Turn Green in Thunderstorms)

Montage of photos from the Killdeer, North Dakota, hailstorm on July 10, 2016.

Wind-driven hail also broke windows near Fairfield, North Dakota, and both crop and vehicle damage was reported to be substantial near Amidon, North Dakota.
Across the border in eastern Montana, a skylight was broken by hail northeast of Baker, and golfball-size hail broke home windows and shredded trees of their leaves near Plevna.
(MORE: String of Damaging Spring 2016 Hailstorms)

Shelf cloud ahead of the Killdeer, North Dakota, hailstorm on July 10, 2016.
(Kristin Williams/Facebook)

Through late June, the two costliest weather events so far in 2016 were both hailstorms in Texas in mid-April and late March.
(MORE: Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters So Far in 2016)
According to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, insurance claims due to severe wind and hail accounted for about $15 billion each year over the past five years.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7.