StormProof → hail seasons → Raleigh–Durham → 2026
Raleigh–Durham hail season 2026
2 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 30 miles, across 1 storm days, max 1.00". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 2026 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (2026, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 29, 2026 | 2 | 1.00" | ORANGE |
When it fell
Apr 2
Preliminary 2026 reports (SPC, season in progress)
Same-day SPC storm reports through 2026-10-01, before NCEI compiles the final record: 15 reports ≥1″ on 4 days, up to 2.00". Preliminary counts shift as reports are quality-controlled; they are labeled preliminary in every report we generate.
| Date (preliminary) | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 5, 2026 | 6 | 2.00" | 4 S Flowers, 3 SE Clayton, 2 E Clayton, 3 ENE Knightdale |
| July 8, 2026 | 6 | 1.25" | 4 S New Hill, 3 ESE Clayton, 3 NW Lake Wheeler, 3 NNW Lake Wheeler |
| April 29, 2026 | 2 | 1.00" | 1 SW Carrboro, 1 S Carrboro |
| September 4, 2026 | 1 | 1.00" | 3 S Linwood |
Wind context: the record also holds 50 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 2026 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Raleigh–Durham claim from 2026?
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.
Unlimited reports — Pro $99/mo Single report $29
Provenance
Final counts: NCEI Storm Events Database, file vintage c20260918, hail events with recorded magnitude ≥1.00″ and point coordinates within 30 miles of the Raleigh–Durham anchor. Preliminary counts: SPC daily storm reports through 2026-10-01. 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.