Hail, Botetourt
- When
- July 10, 6:20 PM EST
- Where
- Botetourt County, Daleville
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 37.417, -79.917
Hail in Virginia, July 10, 2003
Thunderstorms during the late afternoon of the 10th produced hail up to penny size.
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
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 late afternoon of the 10th produced hail up to penny 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 Jul 10, 6:07 PM EST, 13 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 6:07 PM EST, 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA 707 PM EDT THU JUL 10 2003 UPDATED ZONES ONCE AGAIN FOR SVR TSTM WATCH #719. .RNK... NC...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MG PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ******************************************************************* 245 PM EDT THU JUL 10 2003 ATTM...WE HAVE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR OUR NC FOOTHILLS AND MTNS TIL 6 PM. RADAR SHOWS TSRA OCCURRING ALONG AND EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. REGIONAL RADAR SHOWS SQUALL LINE MOVING ACROSS UPSTATE SC...WITH ANOTHER LINE OVER WRN KY INTO SRN OH. ACTIVITY IN E TN...APPEARS TO HAVE DIMINISHED AS IT ENCOUNTERED HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE SMOKYS. WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR REFIRE EAST OF THE NC MTNS LATER THIS AFTN. SHORT RANGE... INITIAL THOUGHTS....ETA APPEARS TOO WEAK WITH S/W IN THE LOWER OH/MID MS VLY. GFS PREFERRED WITH STRENGTH. ETA WAS BETTER INITIALIZED WITH SFC THETA-E OVER THE FA...BUT GFS SLIGHTLY BETTER IN FRONTAL STRENGTH. OVERALL...LEANING TOWARD GFS TONIGHT...BUT BELIEVE GFS MAY BE TOO FAST BEYOND 24 HOURS WITH FRONT...SO WILL BLEND THE ETA/GFS SPEED OF FRONT FOR FRIDAY. TNT...UPPER ENERGY MOVES INTO THE WRN FA B4 MIDNIGHT...AND INTO THE BLUE RIDGE BY 12Z. PLENTY OF JUICE TO FUEL SHOWERS/TSRA TONIGHT...ALONG WITH SFC CONVERGENCE AHEAD OF FRONT. FRI-FRI NIGHT...VORT WEAKENS FRIDAY AS IT MOVES TOWARD THE COAST...WITH MAIN UPPER SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS SRN ONTARIO. FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY...NEXT VORT ROTATES THROUGH BASE OF TROF AND ARRIVES IN THE WRN FA BY 18Z SAT. AT THE SFC...FRONTAL CONVERGENCE TO KEEP THREAT OF SHRA/TSRA GOING MAINLY FOR THE ERN FA THROUGH EARLY AFTN. BOTH GFS/ETA SHOW LITTLE QPF MAKING IT EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. LOOKING AT THE LOW AND MID LVL WINDS PROGGED BY MODELS LEAVES ME TO BELIEVE THE MODELS ARE UNDERFORECASTING PCPN...OUT EAST. WITH GOOD THETA-E RIDGE AT 8H...CHANCE POPS STILL LOOK THE WAY TO GO OUT EAST...FOR FRIDAY THROUGH THE AFTN. SAT...WITH BOTH MODELS SHOWING UPPER ENERGY MOVING INTO THE WEST...ALONG WITH QUICK RETURN OF THETA-E RIDGING ALONG THE MTNS...SO WILL HAVE CHANCE OF AFTN TSRA IN MY MTN ZONES. SAT NIGHT...WILL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE EARLY...THEN DRY. TEMPS...THINK SLOWER MOVEMENT OF FRONT MAY ALLOW ERN CWA TO WARM MORE THAN IN CURRENT ZONES...AND HAVE BUMPED THEM INTO THE UPPER 80S. REST OF TEMPS IN CURRENT FORECAST LOOK REASONABLE. LONG RANGE (SUN-THU)... FRONT MEANDERS NEAR THE EAST COAST SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH WIND FLOW COMING IN FROM THE SOUTH...AND PIECES OF ENERGY TRANSVERSING THROUGH THE UPPER TROF OVER THE EAST. WITH THIS IN MIND...THE THREAT FOR SHRA/TSRA WILL REMAIN EACH AFTN/EVENING MAINLY...THROUGH TUESDAY. THE FRONT WASHES OUT...BUT WE STILL REMAIN IN SUMMER LIKE PATTERN WED...WITH NEXT FRONT BEARING DOWN LATE NEXT WEEK FROM THE NORTHWEST. SO...PLAN ON KEEPING SCTD TSRA IN THE FORECAST FOR THE ENTIRE EXTENDED PERIOD. .RNK... NC...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. WHP
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 10, 4:20 AM EST, 14 hours before
NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-111015- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 520 AM EDT THU JUL 10 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA... WESTERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED BURSTS OF STRONG WIND AND RAIN...RESULTING IN WIND DAMAGE OR SMALL STREAM FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... UNLESS THUNDERSTORMS BECOME WIDESPREAD...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 10, 1:38 PM EST, 4 hours 42 minutes before
NCZ001>003-018>020-102200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 238 PM EDT THU JUL 10 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE OVER THE WATCH AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM ANY OF THE STORMS. PERSONS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS...AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. JH
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:19 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Georgia, July 10, 2003
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in West Virginia, July 10, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, July 10, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 10, 2003
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Virginia, July 10, 2003
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 10, 2003
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 10, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, July 10, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Ohio, July 10, 2003
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 10, 2003
- Flash Flood and Flood in Indiana, July 10, 2003
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, July 10, 2003
More
Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, July 2003
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: 5378174.