An upper level disturbance crossed the area during peak heating and interacted with a warm moist unstable air mass which produced scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms across central North Carolina. Some of these storms were severe and produced large hail and damaging winds.
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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.
The episode as NWS RAH wrote it up.
An upper level disturbance crossed the area during peak heating and interacted with a warm moist unstable air mass which produced scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms across central North Carolina. Some of these storms were severe and produced large hail and damaging winds.
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.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 345 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2010 NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-230930- PERSON-GRANVILLE-VANCE-WARREN-HALIFAX-FORSYTH-GUILFORD-ALAMANCE- ORANGE-DURHAM-FRANKLIN-NASH-EDGECOMBE-DAVIDSON-RANDOLPH-CHATHAM-WAKE- JOHNSTON-WILSON-STANLY-MONTGOMERY-MOORE-LEE-HARNETT-WAYNE-ANSON- RICHMOND-SCOTLAND-HOKE-CUMBERLAND-SAMPSON- 345 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THE MAIN WEATHER THREATS WILL BE ISOLATED WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS. THE CHANCE FOR A SEVERE STORM APPEARS TO BE BEST OVER THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN PIEDMONT INCLUDING THE TRIAD REGION AS WELL AS ALBEMARLE...TROY AND ROCKINGHAM. THE THREAT FOR ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD END AROUND 9 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE ISOLATED WIND GUSTS NEAR 60 MPH AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR ANY ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WILL BE 1 PM TO 9 PM. THE THREAT AREA WILL BE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM GREENSBORO TO RALEIGH TO GOLDSBORO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SEVERE OR SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMMEDIATELY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:11 UTC.
4 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Penny sized hail was reported near the intersection of Yates Mill Pond Road and Woodard Lane.
Quarter sized hail was reported near Barrys Cafe on Jones Franklin Road. The quarter hail lasted for 10 to 15 minutes.
Nickel to quarter sized hail was reported along Belltown Road near Smith Road.
Lightning struck an apartment complex on East Netherland Drive off of Reilly Road. The fire was confined to the roof, but residents were displaced because of water damage.
Quarter sized hail was reported along North Carolina Highway 96 near the Sampson Johnston County Line.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2010
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: 234002, 234009, 234013, 234071, 234014.