Hail in the Camper!

I was getting ready for bed at a truck stop outside El Paso when my phone pinged with a weather alert.

Now, usually if I were to see something like this, I would see if there was a way to outrun it. Maybe I could drive a little bit out of the eye of the storm, or at least I could find a truck stop with a parking spot on the safe side of the building, to avoid the brunt of the wind. But it was so late, it was nearly 11. I was already in bed, and the storm was already basically on top of me. I didn't get much notice at all. So, I was really nervous about the "expect hail damage" part of the warning due to "golf ball sized hail" but I figured that whatever happens, happens.

To be honest, I was absolutely not expecting hail in Texas. In fact, I had previously been more worried that it would be uncomfortably hot trying to sleep in the deep southwest, since my camper's air conditioning only works when I'm plugged into shore power in a campground. I honestly didn't realize that Texas got hail storms, but boy, was I in for a first-hand meteorology lesson.

On top of all this, I certainly was not in the least bit prepared for what the hail would sound like on the (fiberglass) roof of the camper three feet from my face. The lofted bed puts you very close to the roof of the camper, though I doubt it would have been any less dramatic from a different part of the camper, since the whole thing is a tiny metal box.

The sound was so dramatic and honestly frightening that I had to record it so anyone else could experience it with me. Listen to this! And turn your speakers to max volume if you want the full, true experience...

Needless to say, I did not sleep until the storm passed... both out of fear and it being way too loud to sleep. I do sleep with white noise, and gosh I love the sound of rain on the camper roof. But this was so many decibels louder than anything that would be able to sleep through.

It was so loud that I was a little convinced that my camper was going to cave in right onto me. Not only did that not happen, but also, luckily nothing was damaged. I got up the next morning and immediately climbed up my ladder to check out the roof. It wasn't dented in the least, nor was the hood of my truck. That was a relief.

I think this was probably the most dramatic weather event that the camper and I experienced. Although, of course, a normal rain storm when there's a tear in your roof that leads to substantial flooding is a more dramatic overall experience. I think I still haven't written about that, so stay tuned for the full story on that.