Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, July 16, 2024

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, July 16, 2024
Start: 2024-07-16T12:50
End: 2024-07-16T17:13
Location: North Carolina

July 16, 2024 · NWS RNK · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

A hot and humid air mass combined with orographical lift helped to spark isolated thunderstorms that became severe. Thunderstorm winds blew down a few trees in Surry, Watauga, and Wilkes counties.

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: $5,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

A hot and humid air mass combined with orographical lift helped to spark isolated thunderstorms that became severe. Thunderstorm winds blew down a few trees in Surry, Watauga, and Wilkes counties. Hail up to the size of pennies fell from one of the storms in Wilkes 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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 12:19 PM EST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 12:19 PM EST, 31 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 3:18 AM EST, 9 hours 32 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 12:29 PM EST, 21 minutes before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service BLACKSBURG VA
129 PM EDT Tue Jul 16 2024

NCZ001-002-019-161800-
Ashe NC-Wilkes NC-Alleghany NC-
129 PM EDT Tue Jul 16 2024

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT
SOUTHWESTERN ALLEGHANY...NORTHWESTERN WILKES AND SOUTHEASTERN ASHE
COUNTIES IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH 200 PM EDT...

At 128 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Idlewild, or near Glendale Springs, moving east at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor hail damage to vegetation is possible.

Locations impacted include...
Laurel Springs...
Glendale Springs...
Wilbar...
Mc Grady...
Mulberry...
Idlewild...
and Othello.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Locally heavy rain will quickly reduce visibility and result in
ponding of water on roadways, standing water in low lying areas, and
minor flooding of creeks, streams, and areas of poor drainage.
Drivers are urged to slow down and use extra caution to avoid
hydroplaning.

&&

LAT...LON 3621 8146 3636 8149 3646 8117 3622 8108
TIME...MOT...LOC 1728Z 254DEG 15KT 3630 8141

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...<30 MPH

VFJ

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Wilkes

When: July 16, 12:50 PM EST
Where: Wilkes County, 0.79 mi S of Wilbar
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.259, -81.319

Hail ranging from the size of dimes to pennies fell on White Oak Road.

Thunderstorm Wind, Surry

When: July 16, 1:50 PM EST
Where: Surry County, 0.91 mi SSW of Pine Ridge
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.489, -80.729

Thunderstorm winds blew down one tree along the exit ramp connecting Interstate 74 and Route 89.

Thunderstorm Wind, Surry

When: July 16, 2:10 PM EST
Where: Surry County, 1.03 mi SW of Bannertown
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.470, -80.594

Thunderstorm winds blew down one tree along Sheffield Lane.

Thunderstorm Wind, Watauga

When: July 16, 5:13 PM EST
Where: Watauga County, 0.65 mi WNW of Valle Crucis
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $4,000
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.223, -81.791

Thunderstorm winds blew down two trees with one of them falling on to a power line and snapping a power pole along Pine Tunnel Drive.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2024 Every state in 2024 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, July 2024

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: 1183113, 1183114, 1183115, 1183116.