Louisiana Severe Weather: What is Gorilla Hail?

Over the last few years, many experts have noted that America's traditional 'tornado alley' has shifted. Instead of being centered around the country's 'great plains', it has shifted to the south, and east. That means all of Arkansas, and north Louisiana have been added to the new 'tornado alley'.

What Does This Mean For The New Tornado Alley?

With this shift in severe weather patterns, residents in Louisiana have started to see storms like they haven't experienced before. In the last 15 years, cities like Shreveport have experienced multiple "hundred year" floods.

These storms aren't just bringing more tornadoes to the region, they're bringing more rain, and more hail. Some of that hail seems to be different; harder, larger. This is something that has been noted by storm chasers, who have dubbed this 'gorilla hail'.

What is Gorilla Hail?

The term 'gorilla hail' has been popularized by online storm chaser Reed Timmer.

The term isn't a clinical definition, more of a descriptive term. Many now consider 'gorilla hail' to be abnormally large hail, which could be considered anything over 2 inches in diameter.

Going back to Reed Timmer, since he's helped propel the term into mainstream weather forecasting, don't be fooled by his role as an online storm chaser. Timmer is a meteorologist, and actually holds a PhD from University of Oklahoma.

His online content creation puts him in the thick of storm chasing regularly. Which means he's been exposed to some of these newer weather phenomenon more often than most researchers. Considering his credible resume, and his first-hand experiences, its more than fair to take his assessment of 'gorilla hail' seriously.

As Louisiana joins the new 'tornado alley', something like 'gorilla hail' can be expected more often.