StormProof → hail seasons → Raleigh–Durham → 1998
Raleigh–Durham hail season 1998
12 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 30 miles, across 5 storm days, max 2.00". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 1998 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (1998, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 20, 1998 | 4 | 2.00" | WAKE, DURHAM, FRANKLIN |
| June 3, 1998 | 3 | 1.75" | JOHNSTON, WAKE |
| May 26, 1998 | 3 | 1.75" | JOHNSTON, DURHAM |
| June 23, 1998 | 1 | 1.25" | WAKE |
| May 7, 1998 | 1 | 1.00" | JOHNSTON |
“Quarter sized hail fell 2 miles north of Northern Durham High School reported by a Raleigh Skywarn Spotter.”
— NWS event narrative, March 20, 1998 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Mar 4 · May 4 · Jun 4
Wind context: the record also holds 16 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 1998 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Raleigh–Durham claim from 1998?
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 30 miles of the Raleigh–Durham 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.