Hail pounds areas northwest Minnesota and eastern North Dakota

CROOKSTON - Hailstones 1 to 2 inches in diameter pounded parts of Crookston Thursday night, including an auto dealership where the owner estimates damage at $100,000 to $200,000.

"I think every car in the lot's got dents on it," Allen Brost, owner of Brost Chevrolet, told WDAY Radio. "It's just a matter of some cars and trucks are worse than others."

Brost said the damage is consistent with reports of golf ball- to egg-sized hail. Some vehicles have broken sunroofs and "huge" dents, he said.

The damage comes at a particularly bad time for the dealership as the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program takes effect today, Brost said.

"We've got vehicles that are tentatively sold. Now we've got them with hail damage. We don't know what's going to happen. We have to get the insurance adjusters out here," he said.

Other reports Thursday night included 0.88-inch hail east of Buxton, N.D.; 1.75-inch stones near Argyle and Fisher; and 1-inch hail in Thief River Falls and near Fertile, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, N.D.