And just look at the size of the hail that fell in the Highlands area:
Highlands County Board of County Commissioners on Monday, April 4, 2022, shared photos of the hail that fell in Highlands County during a storm. Highlands County Board of County Commissioners Facebook
Some of the hail reported around Sebring was said to be the size of golf balls and baseballs, according to Fox13. Clearly, Mother Nature wasn’t playing around.
Here’s a look at the hail aftermath:
Car damage
Some cars pelted by hail were left damaged. Pictures show a Volkswagen in Sebring with holes in its rear window. Avon Park resident Stephanie Arnold-LaFlam Limardo’s car had even more damage: She found the rear window blown out, with hail on her dashboard.
Hail battered a Volkswagen in Sebring, leaving it with ball-size holes in its rear window. It’s one of the photos the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners shared online Monday, April 4, 2022. Highlands County Board of County Commissioners Facebook
The rear window of Stephanie Arnold-LaFlam Limardo’s car was blown out by hail during the storm. Courtesy of Stephanie Arnold-LaFlam Limardo
Stephanie Arnold-LaFlam Limardo found hail on her car’s dashboard after her rear window was blown out during the storm. Courtesy of Stephanie Arnold-LaFlam Limardo
So...much...HAIL! Severe storms dumped torrential rain and golf ball size hail for many in Highlands county earlier this evening. #FLwx@10TampaBay
Can you imagine chilling at home when suddenly, bam!, hail breaks through your window? That’s not usually a Florida problem, but it became one for some homeowners in Avon Park. Not only did hail crash through the windows of some homes, the ice left holes in the exterior.
Blanket of hail
Talk about a blanket of hail. People just saw hail everywhere. At their front door, in the yard, behind their potted plants. Mother Nature must have forgotten that this is Florida.
A dozen pieces of hail behind a potted plant. Highlands County Board of County Commissioners shared the photo on Monday, April 4, 2022. Highlands County Board of County Commissioners Facebook
Extremely large #hail came down in Avon Park (Highlands County) Monday night.
Video courtesy of Christi Williams
Golf ball size hail (1.75”) but this video looks to show larger hail
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
