TYLER, Texas — Some long-time East Texas residents are calling this the worst hail storm they've encountered in over 30 years.
Jamie Hammett lives just west of CBS19 and shared photos of hail so thick, it made it look liked it snowed on Super Bowl Sunday morning! Hammett is a Tyler resident since 1996 and can't remember a worse hail storm.
Early Sunday morning the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma wrote in it's discussion that warmer air flowing north into East Texas along with higher instability and strong winds could produce supercells capable of creating large hail.
East Texas was under a severe thunderstorm watch and severe thunderstorm warning, specifically mentioning large hail as the biggest threat, issued well ahead of the cell moving through the region.
The largest hail stones were reported near Rhones Quarter Road and Shiloh Road around 7 a.m. in Tyler. The radar estimated the hail to be around two inches in diameter.
Tyler was not the only place to see large and damaging hail. The hail core briefly weakened in eastern Smith County but re-intensified as it continued into parts of Gregg County where golf ball to egg-sized hail fell.
Golf ball sized hail was also reported in Marshall while farther south Tornado warnings were issued in Washington and Austin counties along with a separate tornado warning in Grimes, Montgomery and Walker counties.
Currently, the National Weather Service office in Shreveport is reporting some hail damage across East Texas. Time will tell the extent and cost of one of the worst hail storms in the East Texas region.