Hail reports North Carolina
No hail has been reported anywhere in North Carolina during the last 24 hours. In an average year, North Carolina sees 274 hail reports, and the largest hailstone on record measured 4.50 inches. That stone fell at Kannapolis on May 7, 1998. The average is based on reports from 2005 through 2025, and the record goes back to 1996. Hail report data comes from National Weather Service Local Storm Reports filed by trained spotters.
as of
NCEI Storm Events data place North Carolina at 11 among 51 states and DC for average hail reports per year. Full state hail ranking
From 2005 through 2025, the Storm Events Database logs about 274 hail reports in North Carolina a year, across about 41 days.
Largest hailstones on record in North Carolina
| Diameter | Size | Place | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.50 inches | Grapefruit | Kannapolis, Rowan County | May 7, 1998 |
| 4.50 inches | Grapefruit | Troy, Montgomery County | May 27, 1998 |
| 4.50 inches | Grapefruit | Newton, Catawba County | Jun 3, 1998 |
| 4.50 inches | Grapefruit | Morganton, Burke County | May 24, 2000 |
| 4.50 inches | Grapefruit | Morganton, Burke County | May 24, 2000 |
| 4.25 inches | Softball | Colerain, Bertie County | May 9, 2003 |
| 4.25 inches | Softball | Severn, Northampton County | May 9, 2003 |
| 4.00 inches | Softball | Boone, Watauga County | Jun 2, 1998 |
| 4.00 inches | Softball | Raleigh, Wake County | Mar 28, 2005 |
| 4.00 inches | Softball | Murfreesboro, Hertford County | May 31, 2019 |
Record figures come from the Storm Events Database at NCEI, a reviewed log that trails live reports by 2 to 3 months. Records start in 1996 and averages cover 2005-2025.
Hail reports by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reports | 0.8 | 3 | 16 | 42 | 88 | 61 | 34 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
Counties in North Carolina with the most hail reports
| County | Reports a year |
|---|---|
| Wake | 12.5 |
| Burke | 7.8 |
| Buncombe | 6.5 |
| Guilford | 6.4 |
| Onslow | 6.2 |
| Mecklenburg | 5.8 |
| Craven | 5.2 |
| Cleveland | 5.0 |
| Iredell | 5.0 |
| Johnston | 4.9 |
Cities in North Carolina with hail data
| City | Reports a year | Largest since 1996 |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 21.0 | 4.50 inches May 7, 1998 |
| Raleigh | 19.6 | 4.00 inches Mar 28, 2005 |
| Asheville | 16.8 | 2.75 inches May 8, 2024 |
| Greensboro | 15.1 | 2.75 inches Jun 3, 1998 |
| Wilmington | 6.5 | 2.00 inches May 7, 1998 |
National Weather Service offices file Local Storm Reports; the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University relays them to this page, where they appear as live spotter reports. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.