‘Never seen hail like this’: Hail storm on I-5 sends 1 to hospital for minor injuries
A brief hailstorm Wednesday on Interstate 5 in western Stanislaus County caused multiple spin-outs and sent one woman to the hospital with minor injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The storm started around 1:30 and only lasted for about 10 minutes, CHP Officer Tom Olsen said. But by the time it was over, about two inches of pea-sized hail covered a half-mile stretch between Westley and Patterson.
Olsen said the hail, strangely, only seemed to affect this one section of the highway.
“I’ve never seen hail like this,” Olsen said. “It was pretty significant.”
The CHP responded to three vehicle spin-outs from the storm as well as one minor traffic incident involving a Hyundai SUV colliding with a flatbed pickup truck, Olsen said.
The 29-year-old Patterson woman driving the SUV was taken to the hospital after complaining of minor pains, Olsen said. A child in the car with her was uninjured.
The California Department of Transportation had to come in and help shovel the hail while the roads were closed from the traffic incidents, Olsen said.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 4:47 PM.
