A powerful late-night storm hammered Rio Grande City on Saturday, March 7, pelting parts of Starr County with giant hail and strong winds that turned a routine gas stop into a scene out of a disaster movie.
Video circulating online shows a section of the metal canopy at an Exxon station crashing down onto a parked pickup as hail slams into the pumps. The station was closed Sunday while staff said the company assessed the damage, and officials have not released any information about injuries.
Video shows canopy collapse
TikToker David Luera captured the moment a chunk of the canopy came down on a white truck around 9:30 p.m., according to MySA. The report identified the station as the Exxon at 5251 US-83 near the Las Lomas area in Rio Grande City. Store staff said the station would remain closed Sunday while the company continued to assess the scene.
Warnings and forecast
According to the National Weather Service, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was in effect overnight, and forecasters warned that another round of showers with large to very large hail and isolated severe wind gusts could arrive Sunday. The advisory flagged “destructive hail” as an immediate hazard and urged residents to seek shelter while storms moved through the area. Local emergency lines were reported to be busy as calls surged during the height of the storm.
How big was the hail?
Meteorologist Chris Suchan reported that some of the giant hailstones were about 4.5 inches in diameter, a figure relayed by MySA. That size is roughly on par with a grapefruit and far larger than the typical hail that rattles rooftops during severe weather.
Hailstones that large form only when thunderstorm updrafts are extremely strong, and the Houston Chronicle has noted that Texas has seen even bigger ice chunks in rare storms, including a 6.4 inch state record set in 2021.
Local impact
The Exxon station remained closed Sunday as crews and company representatives evaluated the structural damage and cleared debris around the pumps and parking lot. Officials have not released a damage estimate, and residents were urged to keep an eye on updated forecasts and heed severe weather warnings while the storm system continued moving through the region.
