The Treasure Coast was pelted with hail during the afternoon of May 5, with reports of 2-inch-diameter hailstones falling in parts of the area, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
Hail fell in Fort Pierce, Port Salerno and Vero Beach, TCPalm previously reported. Hail also fell throughout other parts of Florida, including Brevard and Palm Beach counties.
The largest hailstones reported on the Treasure Coast were 2-inch-diameter balls that fell near Lawnwood Stadium at 1302 Virginia Ave. in Fort Pierce, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Jared Heil.
The National Weather Service also had reports of these hailstones:
Penny-sized pellets at Glendale Elementary School in Vero Beach
Golf ball-sized pellets at Interstate 95 and Orange Avenue
About 1-inch-diameter pellets near I-95 and Indrio Road
What’s the historically largest hail that has ever fallen on the Treasure Coast? The National Weather Service did not have that data available, but TCPalm previously reported that 3-inch-diameter hailstones fell over St. Lucie and Indian River counties on Feb. 13, 1995.
Here’s what to know about hail in Florida.
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Does it hail in Florida?
It’s hail season on the Treasure Coast during February, March and April, according to the National Weather Service.
The beginning of May slides into that timeframe. It’s when temperatures in the middle and upper atmosphere are at their coldest.
When there’s enough moisture to create thunderstorms in spring, they tend to become prolific hail producers, meteorologist Will Ulrich previously told TCPalm.
On March 25, the Treasure Coast got hit by an isolated hailstorm, in which some people found their yards covered in about 3 inches of dime-sized balls of ice, TCPalm reported.
A brief but strong and isolated hail storm was reported in northern St. Lucie County, north of Fort Pierce, at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
What causes a hailstorm?
Hail forms when raindrops are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into cold areas of the atmosphere where they freeze, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hailstones then grow when colliding with liquid water drops that freeze onto the hailstone.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X @gonthescene.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Does it hail in Florida? Hail falls in Fort Pierce, Vero Beach