Hail in Alabama, April 28, 2002

Name: Hail in Alabama, April 28, 2002
Start: 2002-04-28T19:53
End: 2002-04-28T20:09
Location: Alabama

April 28, 2002 · NWS BMX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Dime to golf ball size hail fell all around the Huntsville metropolitan area. Hail reports began in extreme southeast Limestone County in the City of Madison and extended across much of Huntsville.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 BMX wrote it up.

Dime to golf ball size hail fell all around the Huntsville metropolitan area. Hail reports began in extreme southeast Limestone County in the City of Madison and extended across much of Huntsville. City of Madison actually falls in both Limestone and Madison counties.

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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 28, 7:00 PM CST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 28, 7:00 PM CST, 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
800 PM CDT SUN APR 28 2002

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EXTREME NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
FORECAST AREA.  FEW SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS CENTRAL PORTIONS
AS WELL.  CAPE/INSTABILITY QUITE HIGH ACROSS AREA FROM TUSCALOOSA TO
BIRMINGHAM TO ROANOKE...SPC HAS JUST ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH FOR THESE AREAS.  THIS WATCHG WILL REPLACE THE PREVIOUS
TORNADO WATCH ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA...AND WILL BE IN AFFECT
THROUGH MIDNIGHT.  HAVE ALREADY SENT UPDATE ZONES.

.BHM...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 28, 5:02 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
602 PM CDT SUN APR 28 2002

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

0600 PM    IDER                      AL   1.75 IN HAIL
04/28/02   DEKALB                         GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED IN IDER BY STORM
                                          SPOTTERS.

Local storm report, Apr 28, 6:50 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
750 PM CDT SUN APR 28 2002

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

0726 PM    HAZEL GREEN               AL   0.75 IN HAIL
04/28/02   MADISON                        DIME SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED IN HAZEL GREEN.

0729 PM    ARDMORE                   AL   1.00 IN HAIL
04/28/02   LIMESTONE                      QUARTER SIZE HAIL FELL IN
                                          ARDMORE.

0730 PM    NEW MARKET                AL   1.00 IN HAIL
04/28/02   MADISON                        QUARTER SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED IN NEW MARKET.

0735 PM    ARDMORE                   AL   0.88 IN HAIL
04/28/02   LIMESTONE                      NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          OBSERVED IN ARDMORE.

0740 PM    NEW MARKET                AL   1.50 IN HAIL
04/28/02   MADISON                        ONE AND ONE HALF INCH
                                          DIAMETER SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED IN NEW MARKET.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Limestone

When: April 28, 7:53 PM CST to 8:09 PM CST
Where: Limestone County, 3 mi E of Mooresville
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 34.633, -86.833

Hail, Madison

When: April 28, 7:56 PM CST to 8:09 PM CST
Where: Madison County, Madison
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.700, -86.767

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

Every storm in Alabama in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, April 2002

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: 5293022, 5293023.