StormProof → hail seasons → Charlotte → 1996
Charlotte hail season 1996
15 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 35 miles, across 6 storm days, max 2.50". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 1996 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (1996, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 1996 | 7 | 2.50" | MECKLENBURG, LINCOLN, CATAWBA |
| May 29, 1996 | 3 | 1.75" | MECKLENBURG, IREDELL, ROWAN |
| March 16, 1996 | 2 | 1.75" | GASTON, LINCOLN |
| August 24, 1996 | 1 | 1.75" | MECKLENBURG |
| August 3, 1996 | 1 | 1.00" | MECKLENBURG |
When it fell
Mar 2 · May 10 · Jul 1 · Aug 2
Wind context: the record also holds 57 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 1996 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Charlotte claim from 1996?
These are aggregates. A claim file needs the per-address record: every recorded event within 1, 3 and 10 miles of the property, distances, official narratives, and citations an adjuster can check line by line. That's the report — generated in seconds, hosted on HailEvidence (the neutral evidence surface), formatted as an insurance-appeal attachment.
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Provenance
Final counts: NCEI Storm Events Database, file vintage c20260527, hail events with recorded magnitude ≥1.00″ and point coordinates within 35 miles of the Charlotte anchor. NWS records are point and path observations. The absence of a nearby report does NOT prove that no hail fell at this address — it means no observation was logged nearby. A report of nearby hail documents the event; it does not by itself prove damage to a specific structure. Spotted an error? Email the address on our terms page and we correct against the source.