Hail, Pender
- When
- May 23, 1:25 PM EST to 1:30 PM EST
- Where
- Pender County, Hampstead
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 34.370, -77.720
Tornado and Hail in North Carolina, May 23, 1998
Afternoon thunderstorms erupted as an upper level atmospheric wave collided with a seabreeze front. A tornado and hail resulted.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $51,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
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 ILM wrote it up.
Afternoon thunderstorms erupted as an upper level atmospheric wave collided with a seabreeze front. A tornado and hail resulted.
The radar
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:22 UTC.
Event by event
5 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, New Hanover
- When
- May 23, 2:00 PM EST to 2:15 PM EST
- Where
- New Hanover County, 8 mi E of Wilmington
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 34.230, -77.800
Hail, Brunswick
- When
- May 23, 2:00 PM EST to 2:05 PM EST
- Where
- Brunswick County, Leland
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
- Coordinates
- 34.250, -78.050
Thunderstorm Wind, New Hanover
- When
- May 23, 2:10 PM EST to 2:15 PM EST
- Where
- New Hanover County, Wrightsville Beach
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 34.220, -77.800
Along with quarter-size hail, winds tossed small boats on trailers and blew down fences.
Tornado, New Hanover
- When
- May 23, 2:15 PM EST to 2:20 PM EST
- Where
- New Hanover County, Wilmington
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 1.5 mi
- Path width
- 40 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 34.230, -77.930
Tornado touchdown occurred on U.S. 421, and proceeded about 1.5 miles SE to Monkey Junction at N.C. 132. Damage was spotty. A 30 foot camper trailer was tossed 150 feet into a vacant mobile home, destroying both. Roofing from another building broke through a windshield, injuring a woman. The Myrtle Grove fire house lost it's antenna tower.
Hail, Pender
- When
- May 23, 3:57 PM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Pender County, Rocky Pt
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
- Coordinates
- 34.430, -77.880
Hail, New Hanover
- When
- May 23, 4:30 PM EST to 4:40 PM EST
- Where
- New Hanover County, Wilmington to 10 mi of Wrightsville Beach
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 34.230, -77.750
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- 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.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in North Carolina, May 23, 1998
- Hail in Nebraska, May 23, 1998
- Hail in Kansas, May 23, 1998
- Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 23, 1998
- Hail in Nebraska, May 23, 1998
- Hail in Iowa, May 23, 1998
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, May 23, 1998
- Tornado in Missouri, May 23, 1998
- Flood in Puerto Rico, May 23, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, May 23, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 23, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 23, 1998
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 1998Warnings in North Carolina, May 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: 5647124, 5647125, 5647126, 5647228, 5647127, 5647229, 5647230.