Hail, Middlesex
- When
- July 12, 5:15 PM EST to 5:28 PM EST
- Where
- Middlesex County, Billerica
- Measured
- 1.5 in hail
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 42.550, -71.267
Hail in Massachusetts, July 12, 2001
An isolated severe thunderstorm dropped dime sized hail in Billerica, then strengthened as it moved southeast to Stoneham, where it produced hail as large as golf balls.
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
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 BOX wrote it up.
An isolated severe thunderstorm dropped dime sized hail in Billerica, then strengthened as it moved southeast to Stoneham, where it produced hail as large as golf balls.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 12, 12:50 PM EST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 12:50 PM EST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 150 PM EDT THU JUL 12 2001 UPR LOW OVER EASTERN CANADA SENDING ONE SHORTWAVE ACROSS FA THIS EVE. INSTAB FROM SOLAR HEATING CONTRIBUTING TO THIS EVE CONVECTION. SHRA/TSRA WILL DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET. MORE OF THE SAME FRI AS UPR LO REMAINS IN PLACE AND PROGGS SHOWING YET ANOTHER H5 VORT MOVG ACROSS FA 18Z-00Z. PM CONVECTION NIL ON SAT AS UPR LOW FINALLY MOVES FAR ENUF TO dTHE NE SO THAT INFLUENCE ON REGION AT A MIN. MARINE HEADLINES REMAIN AS IS FOR NOW AS WINDS NEAR COAST BORDERLINE SCA. .BOX...SCA BOS HAR AND NAR BAY. FRANKLIN
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:15 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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
- Flash Flood in Washington, July 12, 2001
- Heat in Mississippi, July 12, 2001
- Heat in Texas, July 12, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Montana, July 12 to 13, 2001
- Wildfire in California, July 12, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 12, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 12, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 12, 2001
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, July 2001
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: 5258429.