Name: Hail in North Carolina, April 3, 2002
Start: 2002-04-03T12:28
End: 2002-04-03T12:28
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 Apr 3, 10:03 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 10:03 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1003 AM EST WED APR 3 2002

LINE OF LOW CLOUDS WITH EMBEDDED DYING SHOWERS EXTENDS THROUGH
EXTREME NE SOUTH CAROLINA THIS MORNING. THIS AREA IS MOVING NE AT
15-20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT OUR NC COUNTIES THRU EARLY AFTN. BEHIND
THIS FEATURE...ALMOST FULL SUNSHINE IS STREAMING IN ACROSS CENTRAL
AND SOUTH CAROLINA. ALTHOUGH INSTAB PARAMETERS LOOK IMPRESSIVE AND
SPC HAS REINTRODUCED SLIGHT RISK TO THE AREA...WIDESPREAD
CONVECTION MAY WAIT UNTIL THE SFC FRONT APPROACHES THIS EVENING.
WITH WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS AROUND 10KFT AND 500 MB TEMPS AROUND
-14...ANY CONVECTION COULD PRODUCE HAIL RATHER EASILY HOWEVER.

MAX TEMPS MAY NEED TO BE RAISED A DEGREE OR TWO...ESP ACROSS INLAND
SECTIONS. WILL ALSO ADJUST CLOUD COVER FOR CURRENT SATELLITE TRENDS.

CWF: S FLOW AROUND 10 KT AT 10 AM SHOULD INCREASE AS CURRENTLY
FORECAST. ONLY MINOR TWEAKS ANTICIPATED.

FCSTID = 9
ILM   82  50  61  41 /  30  50   0   0
LBT   82  46  60  39 /  30  40   0   0
FLO   84  48  62  40 /  30  40   0   0
MYR   80  51  61  42 /  30  40   0   0

.ILM...
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

TRA

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 3, 8:50 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before

NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-032200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
850 AM EST WED APR 3 2002

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER TODAY. THE PRIMARY
THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL...BUT DAMAGING WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AND MORE INTENSE AS THE DAY
PROGRESSES.

SKYWARN SPOTTERS...
NETWORK ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA TODAY AND THEN MOVE OFF THE
COAST LATE TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL FOLLOW ON THURSDAY.

DIGIORGI

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Columbus

When: April 3, 12:28 PM EST
Where: Columbus County, Bolton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.317, -78.417

One inch hail was reported by the public.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, 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: 5290199.