Hail in Virginia, July 2, 2002

Name: Hail in Virginia, July 2, 2002
Start: 2002-07-02T17:00
End: 2002-07-02T17:00
Location: Virginia

July 2, 2002 · NWS LWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A thunderstorm with large hail moved through Highland County during the evening of the 2nd. Near McDowell, a sheriff reported golfball sized hail covering the road around 6 PM EDT.

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 happened

The episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.

A thunderstorm with large hail moved through Highland County during the evening of the 2nd. Near McDowell, a sheriff reported golfball sized hail covering the road around 6 PM EDT.

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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
300 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

SHORT TERM TONIGHT THROUGH WED NIGHT...

SHORT RANGE CONCERNS REVOLVE AROUND CONVECTIVE CHCS FOR THE NEXT FEW
DAYS...AND THE CONTINUED HEAT. 12Z MDLS AND 12Z IAD SOUNDING SHOWING
MODERATE INSTABILITY IN PLACE...AND DEVELOPING CONVECTION OVER THE
TERRAIN. GIVEN THE INSTABILITY AVAILABLE...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO
SEE THIS CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY CONT INTO THE EVE HRS. DON/T SEE A
WHOLE LOT OF AEREAL COVERAGE...SO WL LEAVE SLGT CHC POPS IN THE
EAST...AND LOW CHC POPS IN THE MTNS. ETA AND AVN BOTH SHOW QPF THRU
AROUND MIDNIGHT. HAZY CONDS NOT GOING TO STOP...AND FEEL THAT BR/FG
MAY BECOME AN ISSUE TNGT WITH AMOUNT OF LLVL MOISTURE AVAIL AND
NEARLY CALM WNDS. HV KEPT PATCHY BR ACROSS ALL ZNS TNGT.

HEAT INDICES THIS AFTN ALREADY RUNNING AROUND 100F AT 200 PM.
TMRW...MDLS INDICATING A DEGREE OR TWO WARMER FOR BOTH TEMPS AND
DEWPTS. HEAT INDICES ARE XPCTD TO BE AROUND 105F TMRW. WL KEEP HEAT
ADVISORY ONLY...AND HIGHLIGHT HEAT INDICES TMRW. TNGT...MINS ONLY
XPCTD TO BE IN THE M/U70S AND THE SAME GOES FOR TMRW NGT...DEPENDING
ON AEREAL EXTENT AND IMPACT OF ANY CONVECTION. THIS SPELLS NOT MUCH
RELIEF FROM THE HEAT OVERNIGHT...AS HUMIDITIES WL BE VRY HIGH.

WIND FIELD SLIGHTLY IMPROVES TOMORROW...AND SOME WK UPR FORCING MAY
COME INTO PLAY...AND PLAN ON KEEPING CHC POPS AREAWIDE...AS SHOULD
SEE MORE TSRA DEVELOPING TMRW AFTN/EVE.

MANNING

...LONGER TERM...THU THRU MON...

THU FCST A BIT TRICKY BECAUSE TIMING OF FROPA IS IN QUESTION. ETA A
BIT FASTER DROPPING FRONT SWARD THRU CWA MIDDAY THU...AVN CLOSER TO
LATE AFT. BDRY HARD TO FIND DUE TO RELATIVELY LIGHT SFC WIND FIELD
AND THE FACT MODELS FCSTING SFC WINDS TO TURN NW PRIOR TO FROPA IN
RESPONSE TO WEAK LOW PASSING E OF DELMARVA THU AFT.

850MB FRONT EASY TO LOCATE. IT PASSES THRU 18Z TO 02Z FROM N TO
S...SIMILAR TO TIMING OF POSITIVE LI BDRY WHICH WILL STABILIZE AIR.
SINCE TEMPS WILL BE MOST DEPENDENT ON 850MB TEMPS WILL GO WITH
WARMER SOLN PUTTING HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S...WITH
WARMEST READINGS S CWA. IF WINDS TURN NW WE WILL SEE DOWNSLOPE
WARMING SO ANOTHER REASON TO GO WARMER. ENOUGH BDRYS IN AREA...SFC
AND 850MB FRONT IN ADDITION TO WEAK LEE TROF...TO TRIGGER SCT
CONVECTION. SOME DRYING IN LOW LEVELS AND LOWER INSTABILITY WILL BE
PRESENT AS COMPARED TO WED...SO STORMS SHUD PACK LESS OF A PUNCH.
HAVE LEFT CHANCE OF CONVECTION IN THROUGH MIDNIGHT WHEN POSITIVE
LIS AND LOSS OF HEATING NEGATE PRECIP THREAT.

BEHIND COLD FRONT...850MB TEMPS ONLY DROP FROM +18 TO +12 BUT MUCH
DRIER AIRMASS FOLLOWS THANKS TO CANADIAN HIGH PRES. EXPECTING MUCH
LESS HUMID AIR AND NEAR NORMAL TEMPS WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE FRI
THRU SUN. THERE IS A CUTOFF LOW OVER MAINE DURING THAT TIME BUT
MODELS INSIST THAT CLDS WILL STAY WELL NE OF CWA. BY MON...ANOTHER
FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NW AND WINDS START TO TURN S AGAIN...SCT
CLDS EXPECTED WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFT PRECIP...WILL HAVE SILENT
20 POP FOR NOW.

MMARGRAF

.LWX...
DC...HEAT ADVISORY THRU WEDNESDAY FOR ZONE DCZ001.
MD...HEAT ADVISORY THRU WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES MDZ002>007...
MDZ009>011...MDZ013>014...MDZ016>018.
VA...HEAT ADVISORY THRU WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES VAZ025>031...
VAZ036>042...VAZ050>057.
WV...HEAT ADVISORY THRU WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES WVZ048>053...WVZ055.

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 161 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Highland

When: July 2, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Highland County, Mc Dowell
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.333, -79.483

Golfball sized hail covered the ground.

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 Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, 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: 5308149.