Name: Hail in Virginia, September 4, 2002
Start: 2002-09-04T15:37
End: 2002-09-04T15:37
Location: Virginia

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 RNK wrote it up.

Thunderstorms during the afternoon of the 4th produced hail up to nickel size.

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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 2:12 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:12 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
312 PM EDT WED SEP 4 2002

AWIPS SATELITTE LOOP DISPLAYED A BAND OF BKN CU ASSOCIATED WITH THE
COLD FRONT. THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY WAS SAGGING SOUTH ACRS FA THIS
AFTERNOON. IT HAS ALREADY CLEARED NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF CWA. LAPS
DATA INDICATED LIS FROM MINUS 2 TO MINUS 6...WITH CAPES ARD 3 J/KG
AHEAD OF FRONT. ELECTED TO POST SOME LIGHT POPS EARLY TONIGHT AHEAD
OF THE COLD FRONT. THIS FRONT SHOULD PUSH S OF FA BY MORNING.
DECIDED TO ADJUST LOW TEMPS DOWN FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT.
WILL ADD THE MENTION OF UPPER 40S IN SE WEST VIRGINIA. AS HIGH
BUILDS IN AT SFC AND ALFT...THURSDAY WILL BE LESS HUMID UNDER PLENTY
OF SUNSHINE. UPPER RIDGE ACRS MID ATLANTIC RGN CONTINUES DRY WEATHER
IN THE EXTENDED PERIODS. TROPICAL MOISTURE EXPECTED TO BE CONFINED
TO THE DEEP SOUTH - GULF COAST AREA. DECIDED TO RAISE MAX TEMPS
IN THE EXTENDED PD A FEW DEGREES. AT 2 PM EDT...18Z...CENTER OF
TROPICAL STORM EDOUARD WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 29.8 NORTH...
LONGITUDE  80.5 WEST OR ABOUT 50 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF ST.
AUGUSTINE FLORIDA. THE FORWARD MOTION OF EDOUARD HAS BEEN ERRATIC.
OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS IT HAS BEEN MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 8
MPH.  A WEST OR WEST-SOUTHWEST MOTION AT A SOMEWHAT SLOWER SPEED IS
EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.  THE CENTER OF EDOUARD IS EXPECTED
TO REACH THE COAST LATE TONIGHT OR EARLY THURSDAY. SEE LATEST NHC
ADVISORIES FOR LATEST ON THIS STORM.

FORECAST BLENDED VIA EASTERN CLUSTER ISC GRIDS. ZONES WILL BE OUT
ARD 330 PM. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.

FCSTID =    7
PRELIM NUMBERS
ROA   62  84  58  84 /  10   0   0   0
LYH   61  83  57  82 /  10   0   0   0
DAN   64  87  60  85 /  30  10   0   0
BLF   54  80  52  80 /  10   0   0  10
LWB   52  78  52  79 /  10   0   0  10
BCB   58  83  55  82 /  10   0   0  10
TNB   56  81  55  80 /  20  10   0  10

.RNK...
NC...NONE.
VA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:36 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Patrick

When: September 4, 3:37 PM EST
Where: Patrick County, 5 mi SE of Stuart
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 36.583, -80.217

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 Virginia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Virginia, September 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: 5317753.