Hail — Kanawha, West Virginia

2006-08-30 · near Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia

Event narrative

Hail, the size of golf balls to tennis balls, fell on the West Side hills of Charleston, then across the Knollwood and Mink Shoals vicinity, to Coonskin Park and Capital High School. The swath of hail then reached toward Crede and Big Chimney. This path narrowly missed the more densely populated Kanawha River Valley. Nevertheless, hundreds of homes and vehicles were damaged by hail. Some of the damaged vehicles had been traveling on Interstate 79 near Mink Shoals. The 2 largest insurance companies reported a total of 1600 claims, costing about 5 million dollars. The storm also contained torrential rains. A spotter between Big Chimney and Pinch recorded 2.7 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the airport measured 1.2 inches in less than an hour. Flooding in Kanawha County was mostly minor.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.3667, -81.6667)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5525722. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.