Baseball-Sized Hail Pelts Dallas-Fort Worth, Smashing Windows, Damaging Vehicles

A severe thunderstorm pelted parts of the Dallas-Forth Worth early Wednesday morning with large hail that damaged vehicles and smashed windows.

The severe thunderstorm split over Collin County, Texas just after 1 a.m. CDT. Then the westernmost cell plunged south-southwestward, dumping large hail in a swath from southeast Denton County into northwest Dallas County and eastern Tarrant County before fizzling south of the suburb of Arlington.

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CBS 11 News crews reported smashed windows for several blocks between Interstate 35E and the Sam Rayburn Tollway in far northwest Dallas County.

Damage was also reported in the suburb of Coppell, the Coppell Police Department told CBS 11 News.

The noise generated by the large hailstones hitting roofs and shattering glass was enough to wake residents.

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"I heard a lot of commotion going on, and I actually thought someone was trying to break into my house – that's just how hard the hail was hitting," Coppell resident Charles Peteet told CBS 11 News.

The storm brought up to 59 mph wind gusts to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport around 2 a.m., but only one-half inch diameter hail, according to the official observation.

The storm could end up being costly.

Bryan Wood, meteorologist and storm damage analyst with Assurant, Inc. tweeted that this event could be the fifth hailstorm to produce at least $1 billion damage in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro in the past six years.

(PODCAST: Will Insurance Cover My Damage?)

"If you get a significant hail swath traversing a densely-populated area at peak time of day, you're looking at a potentially catastrophic event loss," Steve Bowen, director and meteorologist with Aon Benfield, told weather.com in July 2017.

An April 2016 hailstorm brought softball-size hail to the suburb of Wylie, Texas, punching holes through roofs and damaging 80 percent of the homes in the Collin County suburb. 

(MORE: Hail is the Most Underrated Costly Weather Disaster)

Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that those with damage from the hailstorm should document the damage in photos and video, and file claims with their insurer as soon as possible because agents and adjusters will likely get swamped with claims soon.

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. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to The Weather Channel podcast on Apple, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.