I had never experienced this before and hope to never experience it again. We were driving upstate before the holiday weekend and were caught in a hailstorm. Suddenly, dark clouds, a sudden ever-increasing rain and then - pings. Small at first, then larger - bangs, thuds. Nowhere to pull off the highway. No underpass. Finally a small clearing on the shoulder and the cover of a not-too-dense tree.

The car was being pummeled with the hail. A hailstone -- probably the size of a golf ball -- cracked the windshield. The hail bounced off the hood, leaving dents.

It lasted for about seven minutes -- a seemingly eternal seven minutes.

We felt helpless. Nothing to do but hope that the car’s safety glass lives up to its name. Terrifying. At the mercy of Mother Nature. And then, it was over.