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Level 3 Hailstorm Hits Bulgaria, Cities Report Hailstones the Size of Tennis Balls

Rear window damaged by large hailstone in Bulgaria 6 photos
Photo: Maxim Tetovski on Severe Weather Europe rp
Rear window damaged by large hailstone in BulgariaHailstone in BulgariaHailstorm in BulgariaAftermath of hailstorm in BulgariaAftermath of hailstorm in Bulgaria
Extreme weather conditions often lead to costly damage, and such situations sometimes cause loss of lives. Several villages and small cities in Bulgaria were hit by a hailstorm, which was categorized by Estofex, the European Storm Forecast Experiment, as being a Level 3 threat, which is the worst.
As a result, the storm damaged houses and vehicles, while crops were deemed as "compromised." The hailstorm was caught on video by various people, and you can view the footage below. The layer of ice that resulted from it reached a thickness of 20 cm (7.8 inches) in some regions, reports say.

According to a Bulgarian news agency called Focus, a city in the Tvardishko region encountered hailstones the size of a tennis ball. In other regions of the country, hailstones were the size of a hazelnut. As a reference, you can read the storm forecast in the press release section.

While the latter might not seem that impressive, getting hit by one will hurt, and it may also leave a mark on your vehicle. Mind you, hailstorm damage is not covered by all insurance policies out there, which means that the repair would come out of pocket for the owners of affected vehicles.

The cost of repairing hailstone damage might hurt more than being hit by a hazelnut-sized hailstone. There are images of hailstones the size of a hen's egg. When compared to a tennis ball-sized hailstone, we refrain from commenting, as the latter might leave a bruise or even knock someone down.

Miraculously, no people were injured by the natural phenomenon, which is impressive if you consider the scale of the storm. Unfortunately for vehicle owners, hail damage is tough to repair, even with modern PDR methods. We are referring to Paintless Dent Repair, a solution for minor dents in vehicle bodies, which may be repaired if the paint has not cracked.

The problem is that each spot needs to be restored to its original shape, which involves dismantling the parts underneath it and having a trained technician work on it for hours. This kind of work does not come cheap, as the tools for the job are moderately expensive, but you cannot put a price on experience.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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