St. Matthews, SC Hail Storm – August 2026

A hail storm tracked through St. Matthews, SC on August 10, 2026, producing 1.15-inch stones and prompting 13 NWS warning areas from early afternoon into the evening. The event produced intermittent small hail in the travel corridor and a late dual-polarization radar detection over town.

What Happened

NWS issued 13 separate alerts for the St. Matthews area between 1:24 PM and 7:19 PM EDT on August 10. The first warning area was issued at 1:24 PM for 0.75-inch hail. A series of warning-only updates followed through mid-afternoon, with size estimates reported at 0.75 inch or 1.0 inch during repeated warning cycles around 1:36 PM, 2:45 PM, 3:00 PM, 3:23 PM, 3:29 PM, 3:33 PM, 3:42 PM, and 4:05 PM. A later NWS warning area was issued at 5:57 PM and another at 6:49 PM as storms redeveloped over the region.

A ground observer reported dime-size hail on I-20 at 2:51 PM EDT. That spotter-verified report placed small hail along the east–west travel corridor during the mid-afternoon timing of the first warning cluster.

At 7:05 PM EDT, dual-polarization radar detected a near-surface hail signature over the town consistent with roughly 1.14-inch stones. That radar-derived detection prompted the final high-end hail alert before the event concluded at 7:19 PM. The sequence shows an afternoon phase of repeated NWS warning-only alerts, followed by a discrete late-evening radar-detected pulse centered on St. Matthews.

Damage Assessment

Field reports were limited. The NWS received a spotter-verified report of dime-size hail on I-20 at 2:51 PM. No additional local storm reports of roof, vehicle, or vegetation damage were filed in conjunction with the afternoon warnings.

Radar returns late in the day produced a strong near-surface signature over the municipal area around 7:05 PM. Publicly available radar data indicate that the more intense radar signature was spatially narrow and focused near town limits rather than across the entire warning area. No spotter or storm observer reports from that late pulse were included in the official record supplied for this event.

On balance, surface impacts documented in official reports were confined to the I-20 corridor during the mid-afternoon cycle. Contractors should expect isolated vehicle dents, windshield chips, and granular loss on exposed shingle roofs along the travel route and in nearby commercial strips where radar indicated higher returns. Residential damage reports were not filed with the NWS for St. Matthews in the supplied record.

What Contractors Should Know

Inspect the I-20 corridor first. The only spotter-verified surface report places dime-size hail there at 2:51 PM. Check fleet vehicles, RVs, and bolted sheet-metal canopies at service stations and truck stops along the interstate. Photograph and geotag each vehicle or structure before any repair work. Note orientation of damage and take close-ups of chipped glass and dent patterns for insurance documentation.