May 7, 1998: During the evening, thunderstorms developed over southeast North Carolina. The storms intensified around midnight and quickly became severe producing large hail and a small tornado in the northern sections of Wilmington. The combination of a favorable wind shear profile, unstable air and the approach of a warm front helped the storms to become severe.
March 20, 1998: During the late afternoon, thunderstorms developed over South Carolina. These storms intensified and became severe as they moved northeast into southeast North Carolina during the evening. The combination of a favorable wind shear profile, unstable air and the approach of a cold front contributed to the severity of the storms. Numerous reports of large hail were also received along with a couple of wind damage reports. In addition, these storms contained very heavy rain and Doppler radar estimated the rainfall amounts between 1 and 2.5 inches. Between 8:45 and 9:15 PM, these storms produced large hail and damaging winds across Robeson and western Bladen counties of southeast North Carolina. The largest hail size reported was 1.25 inches at Proctorville in Robeson County.
August 5, 1997: During the late afternoon, several severe storms were moving across portions of southeast North Carolina. The most significant of these turned out to be a storm that first developed over western Columbus County. While most of the storms on this afternoon were moving almost due east, this storm deviated from this pattern and moved to the northeast throughout its life cycle. This northeast movement enabled the storm to maximize the energy available in the atmosphere and turn this energy into damaging winds and hail. The first damage reports came in around 4 pm from the Kelly area of southeast Bladen County where trees were blown down and quarter sized hail fell. The storm then weakened as it moved across the western sections of Pender County before intensifying again near Piney Woods. From here, a damage track five miles wide and 20 miles long occurred through the town of Watha northeast toward the Holly Shelter wildlife refuge. Within in the damage track, hail the size of tennis balls was reported, along with wind speeds estimated well over 60 mph. Six structures were totally destroyed, 20 sustained major damage, 71 others had minor damage and crops were destroyed. The total damage estimate to structures and crops is around $3.5 million.xliii
May 2, 2003: Hail was reported across much of the western half of Henderson County, and was responsible for major damage to the county's apple crop.
May 10, 2005: Mostly pea size hail, with some stones as large as nickels, accumulated to a depth of 2.5 inches in the Carters Ridge area south of Spruce Pine. Hail also accumulated to a depth of several inches in town. Several buildings received minor damage, mainly water damage due to ice dams developing on roofs and in gutters.
Figure 3-22 below shows the probability of hail falling on days of the year from 1980 to 1999.
F igure 3-19 Annual Probability of Hail in North Carolina
Severe Thunderstorm—Hail Storm Hazard Scores
Figure 3-20 represents the relative location of Severe Thunderstorm—Hail Storm hazard vulnerability across the state of North Carolina. The vulnerability score for each county represents the scope, frequency, intensity, and destructive potential of this hazard and is an indication of future probability based on its relative score to other counties in the state.
F igure 3-20. Severe Thunderstorm—Hail Storm Hazard Scores by County
Severe Thunderstorm—Torrential Rain
Definition
Torrential rain is any rain that pours down fast, violently, or heavily.
Description
Torrential rain is most common in the summer months when low-latitude, low pressure systems form in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. xliv
Historical Occurrences
Between September, 1995 and November, 2011, North Carolina reported 254 heavy rain events resulting in 7 injuries and $9,418,000 in reported property damage. Table 3-9 lists these heavy rain events in chronological orderxlv.
Table 3-9. Detailed Severe Thunderstorm—Torrential Rain History
NORTH CAROLINA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM—TORRENTIAL RAIN EVENTS
|
#
|
Location/ County
|
Date
|
Time
|
Magnitude
|
Deaths
|
Injuries
|
Property Damage
|
Crop Damage
|
1
|
Wilmington
|
9/7/1995
|
|
|
|
|
$1,000
|
|
2
|
Mecklenburg Co
|
4/30/1996
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Union Co
|
4/30/1996
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
Edenton
|
6/11/1996
|
|
|
|
|
$75,000
|
|
5
|
Highlands
|
8/17/1996
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
McDowell Co
|
12/1/1996
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
Mt Sterling
|
7/1/1997
|
|
|
|
3
|
$4,000,000
|
|
8
|
Ahoskie, Camden, Currituck, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Gates, Hertford, Jackson, Windsor
|
1/27/1998
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9
|
Candler, Albemarle, Asheboro, Burlington, Clinton, Durham, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Halifax, Henderson, Hillsborough, Kernersville, Laurinburg, Lexington, Lillington, Louisburg, Oxford, Raeford, Raleigh, Red Oak, Robbins, Rockingham, Roxboro, Sanford, Siler City, Smithfield, Tarboro, Troy, Wadesboro, Warrenton, Wilson
|
2/3/1998
|
|
|
|
|
$20,000
|
|
10
|
Ahoskie, Camden, Currituck, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Gates, Hertford, Jackson, Windsor
|
2/4/1998
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11
|
Aberdeen, Angier, Ansonville, Candor, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Durham, Ellerbe, Elon College, Fayetteville, Franklinton, Gibson, Goldsboro, Nashville, Pittsboro, Raeford, Raleigh, Roseboro, Sanford, Scotland Neck, Seagrove, Tarboro, Warrenton, Wilson
|
2/16/1998
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12
|
Greenville
|
7/5/1998
|
|
|
|
|
$90,000.00
|
|
13
|
Morehead City
|
9/3/1998
|
|
|
|
|
$25,000.00
|
|
14
|
Gatesville, Jackson, Murfreesboro
|
9/1/1999
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15
|
Henderson, Jackson, Macon, and Transylvania Counties
|
11/25/1999
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16
|
Fair Bluff
|
6/3/2000
|
|
|
|
1
|
$20,000
|
|
17
|
Maiden
|
7/12/2000
|
|
|
|
|
$30,000
|
|
18
|
Wilmington
|
9/18/2000
|
|
|
|
2
|
$5,000
|
|
19
|
Indian Trail
|
6/16/2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20
|
Newland
|
7/8/2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
21
|
Lenoir
|
7/10/2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
22
|
Arden
|
8/7/2001
|
|
|
|
|
$25,000
|
|
23
|
Sylva
|
8/7/2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24
|
Marshall, Macon Co, Swain Co
|
6/4/2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25
|
103 Sunshine
|
7/4/2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
26
|
Avery, Buncombe, Graham, Haywood, Macon, Madison, and Swain Counties
|
12/19/2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
27
|
Spruce Pine
|
2/22/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28
|
Barnardsville
|
2/22/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
29
|
Cullowhee
|
4/5/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30
|
Cleveland County
|
4/6/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31
|
Gaston County
|
4/6/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
32
|
Lincoln County
|
4/6/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
33
|
Shelby
|
4/10/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
34
|
Salisbury
|
4/26/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
35
|
Charlotte Douglas Airport
|
5/15/2003
|
|
|
|
|
$20,000
|
|
36
|
Hendersonville
|
6/15/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
37
|
White Oak
|
7/2/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
38
|
Lumberton
|
7/13/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
39
|
Bladenboro
|
7/17/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
40
|
Concord
|
7/18/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
41
|
Charlotte
|
7/19/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
42
|
Hickory
|
7/29/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
43
|
Charlotte
|
7/29/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
44
|
Hickory
|
8/5/2003
|
|
|
|
|
$50,000
|
|
45
|
Gastonia
|
8/14/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
46
|
Tabor City
|
8/16/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
47
|
Fairview
|
8/16/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
48
|
Lake Lure
|
8/22/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
49
|
China Grove
|
8/31/2003
|
|
|
|
|
$100,000
|
|
50
|
Henderson County
|
9/22/2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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