Berkeley County, SC Hail Storm
April 9, 2011
 
Event Summary:
A large cluster of supercell thunderstorms impacted much of eastern Tennessee, southwest Virginia as well as the Carolinas
on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Numerous reports of large hail were relayed to the National Weather Service by the public,
law enforcement agencies as well as SkyWarn Spotters throughout the day. One especially nasty severe thunderstorm moved
across portions of Northern Berkeley County, SC during the late evening hours dropping quarter to tennis ball size hail in
communities such as Pineville, Saint Stephen and Bonneau. At its peak, the storm likely dropped baseball size hail just
north of Lake Moultrie shortly after 11 pm EDT. At 1120 pm EDT, a SkyWarn spotter reported Tennis Ball size hail near the
community of Russellville about 3 miles West/Southwest of Saint Stephen. A peak wind gust of 64 mph was also observed by
National Weather Service wind equipment on the Santee Dam along the eastern shore of Lake Marion.

Map of Storm Reports Across the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia
(click image for a larger view)




Berkeley County Preliminary Local Storm Reports

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1105 PM     TSTM WND GST     14 WNW SAINT STEPHEN    33.48N  80.15W
04/09/2011  M64 MPH          BERKELEY           SC   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

1112 PM     HAIL             5 WNW SAINT STEPHEN     33.43N  80.01W
04/09/2011  E1.75 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

            QUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN PINEVILLE. 

1120 PM     HAIL             3 WSW SAINT STEPHEN     33.39N  79.97W
04/09/2011  M2.50 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            GOLFBALL TO TENNIS BALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR 
            RUSSELLVILLE. 

1123 PM     HAIL             SAINT STEPHEN           33.40N  79.92W
04/09/2011  E0.88 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   TRAINED SPOTTER 

1125 PM     TSTM WND DMG     SAINT STEPHEN           33.40N  79.92W
04/09/2011                   BERKELEY           SC   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            TREES DOWN BETWEEN BONNEAU AND SAINT STEPHEN. 

1125 PM     HAIL             SAINT STEPHEN           33.40N  79.92W
04/09/2011  M1.75 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            FIRE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL REPORTS GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL 
            BETWEEN SAINT STEPHEN AND BONNEAU. 

1125 PM     HAIL             BONNEAU                 33.31N  79.96W
04/09/2011  M1.25 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   PUBLIC          

            QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL REPORTED NEAR BONNEAU. 

1128 PM     HAIL             4 ESE BONNEAU           33.27N  79.90W
04/09/2011  M1.75 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   PUBLIC          

            GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL FELL FOR 10 TO 15 MINUTES IN THE 
            MACEDONIA AREA. 

1128 PM     HAIL             4 E BONNEAU             33.30N  79.90W
04/09/2011  M1.75 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER. EAST OF 
            BONNEAU. 

1130 PM     HAIL             6 ESE BONNEAU           33.27N  79.87W
04/09/2011  E1.25 INCH       BERKELEY           SC   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY A SKYWARN 
            SPOTTER. THE HAIL COMPLETELY COVERED THE GROUND. 

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KCLX Radar Imagery

	

	

		

		
		
		

		
		
		

		
		

	
	

		
KCLX Reflectivity at 1112 pm EDT

		Storm likely dropping baseball size hail near Pineville

		(click image for a larger view)
		
KCLX Vertically Integrated Liquid at 1112 pm EDT

		VIL near 76 g/kg

		(click image for a larger view)
		
KCLX Reflectivity at 1120 pm EDT

		SKYWARN spotter reported Tennis Ball size hail near Russellville

		(click image for a larger view)

	



	

	

		

		
		
		

		
		
		

		
		

	
	

		
NSSL Experimental Hail Swath Product

		Graphic showing hail swath of Berkeley County Supercell

		(click image for a larger view)
		
KCLX Hail 4-panel at 1112 pm EDT

		Note: Storm Top near 60,000 ft

		(click image for a larger view)
		
Event Warnings

		Warnings across TN, VA, NC and SC

		(click image for a larger view)