"LEVELLAND, Texas — Dozens of researchers are chasing, driving and running into storms to collect fresh hail, getting their car bodies and their own bodies dented in the name of science. They hope these hailstones will reveal secrets about storms, damage and maybe the air itself.
But what do you do with nearly 4,000 melting iceballs?
A lot.
Researchers in the first-of-its-kind Project ICECHIP to study hail are measuring the hailstones, weighing them, slicing them, crushing them, chilling them, driving them across several states, seeing what’s inside of them and in some cases — which frankly is more about fun and curiosity — eating them.
The whole idea is to be “learning information about what the hailstone was doing when it was in the storm,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini, one of the team’s lead scientists."
Seth Borenstein, Brittany Peterson and Carolyn Kaster report for the Associated Press June 23, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Why The Best Part Of Storm Chasing Isn’t The Storms" (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/06/15/storm-chasing-through-...
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