Hail — Columbus, North Carolina

2024-05-08 · near Armour, Columbus, North Carolina

Event narrative

Golf ball sized hail near the intersection of NC Highway 11 and NC Highway 87.

Wider weather episode

Steep lapse rates aloft and the warmest temperatures of the year helped develop strong instability with SBCAPE 2500-3000 J/kg and LIs down to -8. Thunderstorms developed in associated with a shortwave moving over the southern Appalachians early in the afternoon. These storms raced eastward and were joined by new convection developing across the coastal plain in the late afternoon. Multicellular convection dominated with transient super cellular characteristics noted due to 0-6 km shear up to 40kt. Large hail and damaging winds resulted. Training cells in Lumberton dropped over 4 inches of rain and led to minor street flooding there.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.3800, -78.2800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1173138. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.