Name: Hail in North Carolina, May 12, 2001
Start: 2001-05-12T17:25
End: 2001-05-12T17:25
Location: North Carolina

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

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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 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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 1:05 PM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 1:05 PM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
205 PM EDT SAT MAY 12 2001

ZFP: CONVECTION HAS BEGUN TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE AREA OVER THE PAST
FEW HOURS. IT APPEARS THAT THE DRY AIR BEING ENTRAINED INTO THE
CYCLONIC CIRCULATION HAS SUPPRESSED THE CLOUD DEVELOPMENT A BIT. AS
THE VORTEX CONTINUES TO LIFT OFF TO THE NORTHEAST CONVECTION IS
FORMING IN THE MOISTURE GRADIENT TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE CENTER.

WITH THE WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED UP INTO THE
UPPER 80S WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 60S ALONG THE COAST BUT IN THE
55-60 DEGREE RANGE INLAND.

SO AS FRONT APPROACHES OVERNIGHT WILL CONTINUE WITH A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS AND EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO EXIT THE COAST BY SUNDAY
MORNING.

NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION LATE ON TUESDAY IS WITH A FRONTAL
PASSAGE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE MEAN TROUGH.

CWF: CURRENT WINDS AT FPSN7 IS RUNNING BETWEEN 20 AND 25 KNOTS. THE
COASTAL OBSERVATIONS AT 2 PM INDICATED 23 KNOTS AT SPRINGMAID PIER.
SO WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL CONTINUE SMALL CRAFT FOR WINDS OF 20 TO
25 KNOTS.  WINDS WILL DROP BELOW SCA CRITERIA AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE
ON SUNDAY.

FCSTID = 7
ILM   61  76  51  79 /  50  10   0   0
LBT   59  77  48  82 /  40  10   0   0
FLO   59  79  49  83 /  40  10   0   0
MYR   62  75  50  78 /  50  10   0   0

.ILM...
NC...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AMZ250-252.
SC...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORYF AMZ254-256.

HAWKINS

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 12, 3:32 PM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
432 PM EDT SAT MAY 12 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0430 PM    PAWLEYS ISLAND            SC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/12/01   GEORGETOWN                     DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER

DL

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pender

When: May 12, 5:25 PM EST
Where: Pender County, Willard
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.683, -77.967

Spotter reported golfball size hail.

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

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, May 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: 5250225.