Hail in Vermont, July 4, 2002

Name: Hail in Vermont, July 4, 2002
Start: 2002-07-04T12:20
End: 2002-07-04T12:20
Location: Vermont

July 4, 2002 · NWS BTV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front moved across the area with thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of July 4th. A few storms were severe.

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: 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 BTV wrote it up.

A cold front moved across the area with thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of July 4th. A few storms were severe.

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 Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 11:42 AM EST, 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 11:42 AM EST, 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1242 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

HV UPDTD FCST FOR SVR TSTM WATCH UNTIL 6PM. MADE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS
TO TEMPS BASED ON CURRENT READINGS AND TOOK OUT MNTN OF PCPN FOR ST
LAW CNTY.

.BTV...SVR TSTM WATCH VTZ001>012...NYZ027>031-034-035

MCGILL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 11:43 AM EST, 37 minutes before

NYC019-031-033-VTC001-005-007-009-011-013-015-017-019-021-023-
027-042200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1243 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN NEW YORK AND ALL OF VERMONT UNTIL
600 PM EDT...

IN NEW YORK THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF...CLINTON...FRANKLIN
AND ESSEX. IN VERMONT THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES
OF...ESSEX...GRAND ISLE...FRANKLIN...ORLEANS...LAMOILLE...
CALEDONIA...CHITTENDEN...WASHINGTON...ADDISON...ORANGE...WINDSOR AND
RUTLAND.

A COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING DOWN ACROSS THE REGION TODAY FROM THE
NORTH. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DEVELOPING ACROSS THE REGION TODAY
AHEAD OF THIS FRONT.

PERSONS WITH OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND
SEEK SHELTER INDOORS IMMEDIATELY SHOULD THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH. STAY
TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS FROM
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON VERMONT.

MURRAY/WFO BTV

The radar

The Burlington radar (KCXX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Orleans

When: July 4, 12:20 PM EST
Where: Orleans County, Greensboro
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.583, -72.283

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 Vermont in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Vermont, July 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: 5311357.