At 10:17 p.m. on Friday, September 11, a trained spotter reported one-inch hail two miles northeast of Saint Hedwig. Three minutes later a broadcast report put one-inch hail near Highway 87 and Foster Road, a mile west-southwest of China Grove. Those are the two entries the National Weather Service logged for the rural east side of Bexar County, and they are the storm this page is about.
Haydent’s corporate office is at 17601 Ronald Reagan Blvd in Leander; the crews work wherever the hail fell, and after this storm that includes the farm roads east of Loop 1604, so call (281) 642-2188 to arrange an inspection at the vehicle.
Two one-inch reports, eleven miles apart
Both reports are preliminary. They come from the Storm Prediction Center’s log for September 11 and can be corrected or consolidated when the Weather Service publishes its final storm data. The Saint Hedwig entry is a trained spotter’s own observation. The China Grove entry was relayed by a television or radio station, which is a step further from the hailstone. Neither entry says how the stones were sized.
The two points sit about eleven miles apart on the map and three minutes apart in the log. A storm moving 15 mph does not cover eleven miles in three minutes, so this was not one core marching from Saint Hedwig to China Grove; the same storm produced both reports within three minutes of each other, eighteen minutes after it had dropped much larger hail on Converse at 9:59 p.m.
The Converse reports, up to 2.50 inches, are on the Converse page ↗
Where the storm went after 10:20 p.m.
The warning covering both towns had gone out at 10:12 p.m. with the storm moving southwest at 15 mph, and St. Hedwig, China Grove and Zuehl were already on that first list. At 10:26 p.m. the Weather Service moved the storm’s position to “near China Grove, or 7 miles northeast of Stinson Municipal Airport,” still southwest at 15 mph, with the hazard now radar-indicated quarter-size hail and 60 mph gusts and a plain line that hail damage to vehicles was expected. The same update warned that torrential rain might lead to flash flooding and added Adkins, Sayers, Losoya and Braunig Lake to the list.
By 10:34 p.m. the position was “near China Grove, or near Stinson Municipal Airport” and the hail hazard had dropped to nickel size. The 10:34 p.m. update is the last warning text cited on this page for either town, and no further storm reports were logged for either. In plain terms, the east side got the storm’s second act, at about an inch, while it was moving toward the south side of San Antonio and running out of strength.
What one-inch hail does to a car
One inch is the line the National Weather Service uses to call a thunderstorm severe, so a one-inch report is not a footnote. It is also the size that gets underestimated. Stones that size can dent a roof, a hood or a deck lid, because those are the flattest, thinnest panels on the vehicle and they take the hit square.
The dents are shallow and round, and most of them are invisible at midday. Owners find them a week later, in low sun, walking past the truck at a slant. Sight along the roof and the top of the bed rails with the sun low and behind you, at a shallow angle rather than straight down. That is also the range where paintless dent repair most often handles the whole job: the paint is intact, the metal has not stretched, and the dent can be worked back from behind the panel without filler or a respray. Whether that holds for a particular vehicle depends on the paint, the dent depth, the panel material and access behind it, which is why an inspection comes before any estimate.
Two miles northeast of Saint Hedwig is a big place
“2 NE Saint Hedwig” is a point in a town that covers about 30 square miles, all land, with 2,227 residents at the 2020 census: ranch land and long driveways rather than blocks. “1 WSW China Grove” is a point near the US 87 and Foster Road intersection the broadcast report named. Between them runs FM 1346, which enters St. Hedwig at Loop 1604, turns south at St. Hedwig Road and east at La Vernia Road in Carpenter. Neither point is a boundary.
Distance is the practical problem out here. Nobody wants to drive a dented pickup into San Antonio and back to find out whether it is worth a claim. Haydent inspects where the vehicle is, at your home or your workplace. Tell us where the vehicle was parked on the night of September 11 and what was around it, and we will look at it there.
Trucks, trailers and what sat in the open
Rural vehicles are a different population from a subdivision’s sedans, and the inspection starts with questions rather than assumptions. Was the truck in the open or under a barn roof? Is the bed or the hood aluminum, which dents differently from steel and is worked differently? Was a trailer, a tractor or a second vehicle parked beside it? Did a tree canopy take part of the fall? Is the paint already chipped from gravel, since paintless repair needs the finish intact over the dent? None of these has a standard answer. They decide what the estimate can be built on.
The step-by-step checklist for photographing and documenting a hail-damaged vehicle is on the Converse page. The one addition for this storm is to note where the vehicle was parked at about 10:20 p.m. on September 11 and keep that note with the photos.
The checklist for what to do after the storm is on the Converse page ↗
The reports, as filed
September 11, 2026 · Central time- 10:17 p.m.1.00 inch hail2 miles NE of Saint Hedwig
“1 inch diameter hail near Saint Hedwig.” Source: trained spotter. NWS report issued 10:32 p.m.
- 10:20 p.m.1.00 inch hail1 mile WSW of China Grove
“Broadcast media relayed a report of 1 inch diameter hail near Highway 87 and Foster Road.” Source: broadcast media. NWS report issued 10:30 p.m.
Preliminary reports from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center. Sizes are as reported, not as measured by Haydent.
How the night unfolded
Central time · from the sources below- 10:17 p.m.
Trained spotter reports 1.00-inch hail two miles northeast of Saint Hedwig. NWS report issued 10:32 p.m.
NOAA Storm Prediction Center, September 11 preliminary reports ↗ - 10:20 p.m.
Broadcast media relay 1.00-inch hail near Highway 87 and Foster Road, one mile west-southwest of China Grove. NWS report issued 10:30 p.m.
NOAA Storm Prediction Center, September 11 preliminary reports ↗ - 10:26 p.m.
Warning update places the storm “near China Grove, or 7 miles northeast of Stinson Municipal Airport, moving southwest at 15 mph,” with radar-indicated quarter-size hail and 60 mph gusts: “Hail damage to vehicles is expected.” Torrential rain may lead to flash flooding. Adkins, Sayers, Losoya and Braunig Lake join the list.
NWS Austin/San Antonio warning update ↗ - 10:34 p.m.
Warning update places the storm “near China Grove, or near Stinson Municipal Airport,” still southwest at 15 mph, hail hazard down to nickel size, radar indicated. This is the last warning update cited on this page, and no further storm reports were logged for either town.
NWS Austin/San Antonio warning update ↗
Where Haydent is taking work
- Saint Hedwig
- China Grove
- Adkins
- Zuehl
- Elmendorf
- Martinez
- Carpenter
- FM 1346
- US 87 at Foster Road
- Loop 1604 east
Hail cores are narrower than the storms that carry them. If your street is not on this list and your car is dented, it still counts — call and say where you were parked.
Nearby, from the same night
Questions from Saint Hedwig this week
One-inch hail fell near Saint Hedwig. Is that enough to be worth a claim?
It can be, and it can also be nothing, which is why the answer has to come from the panels rather than the report. One-inch stones are the National Weather Service’s own threshold for severe hail and can dent roofs, hoods and deck lids on trucks and SUVs. Whether to file is a decision between you and your insurer, based on what the inspection documents against your deductible. Photograph the vehicle in low light first; if you find dents, have it inspected before deciding.
The China Grove report says Highway 87 and Foster Road. I am on FM 1346 in Saint Hedwig proper. Was that the same storm?
Yes. One storm produced both entries: the Saint Hedwig report at 10:17 p.m. and the China Grove report at 10:20 p.m., with the 10:26 p.m. warning update placing the same cell near China Grove and moving southwest at 15 mph. The two points are roughly eleven miles apart and were hit within three minutes of each other, so the two entries are two points inside one storm, not its edges. FM 1346 between them sits in the same warning, and what fell on your truck is a question for the panels, not the map.
The China Grove entry says “broadcast media relayed” a report. What is that worth next to the spotter report?
Both entries carry the same size, 1.00 inch, and both are preliminary, but they reached the Weather Service by different routes. The Saint Hedwig report came from a trained spotter and was logged as that person’s own observation, with the NWS report issued at 10:32 p.m. The China Grove report was passed along by a television or radio station, which relayed what someone told it; the entry names neither the outlet nor the original observer, and the NWS report went out at 10:30 p.m. Neither entry says how the stone was sized. The 10:26 p.m. warning update, radar-indicated quarter-size hail near China Grove, is consistent with both. Treat them as one storm logged twice.
My truck has an aluminum bed and hood. Does paintless dent repair work on aluminum?
Often, with caveats. Aluminum panels can be worked without paint, but the metal is stiffer and has less memory than steel, so the same one-inch dent takes more time and more care, and a deep or sharp dent that would come out of a steel roof may not come out of an aluminum one. The technician decides panel by panel at the inspection. If a panel cannot be repaired without paint, panel replacement and automotive paint are services Haydent’s warranty covers.
Why does the 10:26 p.m. warning say quarter-size hail when the reports say one inch?
They are close to the same size described two ways. The Weather Service names hail by coin and ball sizes in its warnings, and a quarter is about an inch across; the ground reports use inches. The other difference is the source. The 10:26 p.m. hazard was radar-indicated, an estimate of what the storm could produce, while the 10:17 and 10:20 p.m. reports were observations relayed from the ground. By 10:34 p.m. the radar estimate had dropped to nickel size, which is the record of the storm weakening as it moved toward Stinson.
I did not see any dents until the sun was low on Sunday. Can that still be storm damage?
Yes, and it is the normal way one-inch damage is found. Shallow, round dents in a roof or hood reflect the sky evenly at midday and only show when light rakes across the panel at a low angle. The storm was the night of September 11 and the preliminary reports are public. Photograph what you found in that same low light, note where the vehicle was parked, and have it inspected.