Hail in South Carolina, May 23, 2013

Name: Hail in South Carolina, May 23, 2013
Start: 2013-05-23T15:15
End: 2013-05-23T15:26
Location: South Carolina

May 23, 2013 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 1 county or zone

An isolated thunderstorm produced large hail over Spartanburg County.

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: 2

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 GSP wrote it up.

An isolated thunderstorm produced large hail over Spartanburg County.

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 1:37 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:37 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 3:04 PM EST, 11 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
404 PM EDT THU MAY 23 2013

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ035>037-056-057-068>072-082-502-504-
506-508-510-SCZ001>014-019-242015-
RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-ALEXANDER-IREDELL-
DAVIE-CATAWBA-ROWAN-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-
UNION NC-GREATER CALDWELL-GREATER BURKE-EASTERN MCDOWELL-
GREATER RUTHERFORD-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS-PICKENS MOUNTAINS-
GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE-GREATER PICKENS-
GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK-ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-
LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD-
404 PM EDT THU MAY 23 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT
NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS
THE REGION THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME
SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. SOME OF STORMS
WILL ALSO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH COULD LEAD TO
LOCALIZED FLOOD ISSUES. THE THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS AND HEAVY
RAINFALL SHOULD RAPIDLY DIMINISH THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

NONE.

NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-501-503-505-507-509-242015-
AVERY-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-GRAHAM-
NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA-HENDERSON-
CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-BURKE MOUNTAINS-MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-
RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS-POLK MOUNTAINS-
404 PM EDT THU MAY 23 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE
REGION THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON. AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM PRODUCING
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL CANNOT BE RULED OUT. THE THREAT OF
STRONG STORMS SHOULD RAPIDLY DIMINISH THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

PATCHY FROST IS POSSIBLE IN THE NORMALLY COLDER AND MORE SHELTERED
VALLEYS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS FRIDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 23, 1:31 PM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 23, 2:16 PM EST, 59 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 23, 2:26 PM EST, 49 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 23, 2:33 PM EST, 42 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 23, 2:58 PM EST, 17 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 23, 3:11 PM EST, 4 minutes before

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The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Spartanburg

When: May 23, 3:15 PM EST
Where: Spartanburg County, 2.15 mi SSW of New Prospect
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.100, -82.060

Nickel size hail was reported near Lake Bowen.

Hail, Spartanburg

When: May 23, 3:26 PM EST
Where: Spartanburg County, 3.15 mi WNW of Boiling Spgs
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 35.070, -82.030

One inch hail was reported at the intersection of Sugar Ridge Rd and Clark Rd.

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 South Carolina in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in South Carolina, May 2013

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 456757, 456758.