Burnsville, NC Hail Storm – September 2026

A severe hail event tracked through the Burnsville, NC metro on September 6, 2026, producing stones up to 2 inches and a long series of NWS alerts. The storm ran from early afternoon into the early evening with radar-detected signatures and numerous spotter-verified reports.

What Happened

NWS issued 21 hail-related alerts between 1:19 PM EDT (17:19 UTC) and 7:36 PM EDT (23:36 UTC). Most alerts were issued as NWS warning only. Dual-polarization radar detected a strong hail signature near 3:29 PM EDT (19:29 UTC). NWS warnings that followed included larger hail indications through mid- and late-afternoon.

The sequence began in the early afternoon with repeated 1.00-inch and 0.88-inch NWS warnings issued from about 1:19 PM into the mid-afternoon. Around 3:24 PM EDT (19:24 UTC) social media reports and trained spotters reported golf-ball sized hail on Highway 123 in Easley. Radar returns intensified near 3:29 PM EDT (19:29 UTC) and an adjacent NWS warning reflected the stronger core at about 3:31 PM EDT (19:31 UTC).

Late afternoon and early evening produced the most notable ground evidence. Broadcast media relayed images via SLACK showing larger stones near Lexington with timestamps estimated by radar at 5:47 PM EDT (21:47 UTC) and 5:51 PM EDT (21:51 UTC). Trained spotters also logged mixed coin-sized reports around Brevard at 1:32 PM EDT (17:32 UTC) and dime- to nickel-size hail elsewhere in the track. Multiple later NWS warnings through 7:36 PM EDT (23:36 UTC) tracked weaker but persistent hail-producing cells into early evening.

Damage Assessment

Images relayed by broadcast media and multiple spotter submissions showed concentrated piles of stones and localized roof and vehicle impacts near Lexington and along Calks Ferry Road. Trained spotters reported pea- to half-dollar sized hail on the 400 block of Calks Ferry Road in Lexington at 6:01 PM EDT (22:01 UTC). Social media and spotter posts documented one-inch quarter-sized hail on the north side of Brevard at 1:32 PM EDT (17:32 UTC).

High-resolution ground reports from Easley at 3:24 PM EDT (19:24 UTC) described golf ball-sized hail on Highway 123. Broadcast images relayed at 5:47 PM EDT (21:47 UTC) and 5:51 PM EDT (21:51 UTC) showed significantly larger stones collected on pavement and vegetation. Those images were relayed by media and cataloged by spotters as hen egg-sized stones in the Lexington area.

MRMS and dual-polarization radar flagged multiple cores along the track that matched the timing of these reports. The pattern of radar-detected cores and clustered spotter submissions indicates the most concentrated surface impacts occurred from mid-afternoon to early evening across the aggregated zones in this report. Reported surface impacts included denting on parked vehicles and heavy accumulation of stones in localized areas where images were shared.