Kenly, NC Hail Storm – April 2025

What Happened

A hail storm moved through the Kenly, NC area on April 11, 2025, with the strongest reports reaching 1 inch during the afternoon and another round late in the day. The event produced four National Weather Service alerts tied to the same storm, with radar and spotter verification on three of them.

The first alert came at 3:29 PM EDT, when dual-polarization radar and a spotter-verified report supported 1-inch hail. Two minutes later, at 3:31 PM EDT, a second alert again carried a 1-inch hail report, this time from spotter confidence alone. A third alert followed at 3:39 PM EDT with another radar plus spotter-verified 1-inch report. The storm then refreshed later in the evening, with a final alert at 8:08 PM EDT still carrying 1-inch hail and radar plus spotter verification.

Field reports lined up with that timing. At 3:20 PM EDT, a public report placed half-inch hail in the area. At 3:31 PM EDT, a spotter near Red Hill Church Road and Ashe Ave near Erwin reported dime-sized hail. By 3:40 PM EDT, reports between Calypso and Faison described hail covering the ground with stones from dime to nickel size. Later reports from the Sneads Ferry and Onslow Beach areas, including mPING and spotter-verified observations, showed quarter-size hail and hail accumulation in and around the ground surface during the evening round.

Damage Assessment

The field reports show a hail event with repeated surface impact across multiple parts of eastern North Carolina. Near Kenly and the surrounding corridor, reports shifted from half-inch hail into dime, nickel, and quarter-size stones as the storm evolved through the afternoon and evening. The reports from Calypso and Faison described hail covering the ground, which points to a concentrated hail swath rather than an isolated single report.

The observed sizes were enough to produce nuisance damage in exposed locations. Vehicles parked outside, roof slopes with older wear, and soft exterior materials would have been the first surfaces to show impact signs. The reports from Erwin, Calypso, Faison, Sneads Ferry, and Onslow Beach also suggest the storm remained organized across a broad warning area, with hail reports continuing hours after the first afternoon round.

For Kenly specifically, the combination of repeated 1-inch alerting and nearby spotter-verified hail reports supports a close review of properties that sat in the storm path on April 11. Even where hail reports stayed below 1 inch, the repeated ground coverage and multiple observation points point to a storm that produced enough stones to leave visible marks on cars, screens, gutters, and exposed trim.

What Contractors Should Know

This event covered a wide east-to-coastal corridor, from the Kenly area through Erwin, Faison, Calypso, Sneads Ferry, and Onslow Beach. Crews should expect a scattered claim pattern rather than a single compact cluster. Afternoon reports were concentrated near 3:20 PM to 3:40 PM EDT, with another verified round at 8:08 PM EDT.