North Carolina, 1998

Flash Flooding and Hail in North Carolina, February 17, 1998

February 17, 1998 · NWS GSP · 8 events in 7 counties and zones

Intense low pressure moving north through the Tennessee Valley brought heavy rain and severe weather to western North Carolina. During the pre-dawn hours, severe thunderstorms developed along a stationary boundary in the piedmont, producing damaging winds.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Intense low pressure moving north through the Tennessee Valley brought heavy rain and severe weather to western North Carolina. During the pre-dawn hours, severe thunderstorms developed along a stationary boundary in the piedmont, producing damaging winds. Power poles and trees were blown down in Statesville. Trees were blown down just east of Salisbury, some on homes and a shed was destroyed. Flooding developed due to persistent heavy rain by mid-morning across a few mountain counties. Small streams came out of their banks, covering several roads and bridges. Isolated severe thunderstorms returned in the late morning and early afternoon along and ahead of a cold front. Damaging thunderstorm winds destroyed a garage and peeled a tin roof of a mobile home in western Yancey county. A stand of baseball lights was blown down in Statesville.

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Iredell

When
February 17, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Iredell County, Statesville
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage
$2,000
Coordinates
35.780, -80.900

Thunderstorm Wind, Rowan

When
February 17, 5:30 AM EST
Where
Rowan County, 5 mi E of Salisbury
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage
$10,000
Coordinates
35.670, -80.420

Flash Flood, Henderson

When
February 17, 10:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where
Henderson County, Hendersonville
Coordinates
35.336, -82.480 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Mitchell

When
February 17, 10:15 AM EST to 1:15 PM EST
Where
Mitchell County, Countywide
Coordinates
36.013, -82.163 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Avery

When
February 17, 10:15 AM EST to 1:15 PM EST
Where
Avery County, Countywide
Coordinates
36.077, -81.922 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Yancey

When
February 17, 11:00 AM EST
Where
Yancey County, 2 mi W of Bee Log
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage
$15,000
Coordinates
35.980, -82.430

Hail, Graham

When
February 17, 1:15 PM EST
Where
Graham County, Robbinsville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
35.330, -83.820

Thunderstorm Wind, Iredell

When
February 17, 2:35 PM EST
Where
Iredell County, Statesville
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage
$3,000
Coordinates
35.780, -80.900

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, February 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5635563, 5635564, 5635565, 5635566, 5635567, 5635568, 5635569, 5635570.