Hail — Salem (c), Virginia

2012-08-01 · near Salem (c), Salem (c), Virginia

Event narrative

The Salem Fire Department observed quarter-sized hail on Electric Road, which is approximately four miles west-northwest of Roanoke. A car dealership in Salem reported $1,500 to $2,200 dollars damage to each of their 300 cars from the large hail.

Wider weather episode

A broad, weak upper trough persisted across the eastern U.S., a continuation of the pattern from late July. With a very moist, unstable air mass present across the region and the presence of the upper trough, scattered to numerous thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and persisted even past midnight. The storms generally progressed from the southern Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia to Roanoke and south central Virginia during the late afternoon/evening. Then, around 10 pm EDT, a new area of thunderstorms developed in northwest North Carolina, which also quickly became severe. The main event from all of these thunderstorms was severe hail, namely quarter-sized or larger. The Roanoke area was particularly hard hit when a supercell drifted across the city from northeast to southwest. Isolated thunderstorm wind events were also reported.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3000, -80.0300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 407771. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.