National Weather Service calls rare Rock Hill hail storm ‘most damaging in memory’

The hail storm that pummeled York County and Rock Hill Saturday didn’t produce a tornado, but its strength and intensity caused rare damage that hasn’t been seen in years, the National Weather Service said at a news conference Monday.

Hail that measured 3 inches in diameter or more pounded buildings along with winds that reached 90 mph, said Steve Wilkinson, meteorologist in charge for the NWS Greenville-Spartanburg office. The storm was a macroburst — a wide swath of straight-line winds coupled with hail — but there was no evidence of a tornado, Wilkinson said.

“It does not take a tornado to cause significant damage,” Wilkinson said after NWS officials and local emergency teams conducted a survey.

Damage from the storm, which followed a southeastern track from the North Carolina state line near York to Rock Hill, included siding ripped off homes or peppered with holes, car windshields smashed and trees down, Wilkinson said. There were bursts of hail with winds that were mostly around 60 mph, but reached 90 mph in some spots, he said.

The storm dropped its hail mostly near and in southern Rock Hill, he said. It was particularly rare for a storm in the Southeast, he said. Storms like the one in Rock Hill, combining high winds and hail, are more commonly seen in the Great Plains, Wilkinson said.

“This storm is one of the most damaging in memory,” Wilkinson said. “There was a tremendous amount of ice in this storm.”

The weather service issued a severe storm warning before the storm hit as it tracked from North Carolina into Cherokee County and then York County, Wilkinson said.

Local residents on Monday were still dealing with property damage to vehicles and buildings. And crews were still working to restore power to several hundred people.

Damage in Rock Hill

Chuck Haynes, York County Emergency Management director, said damage assessment was just beginning Monday, but he expected to count millions of dollars in damage.

An initial assessment may be ready in a few days, but exact totals could take months, Haynes said.

It appears there were no serious injuries, Haynes said Monday afternoon.

Videos and photos posted online showed Interstate 77 vehicles peppered with hail that covered the highway with ice, homes with holes in siding and houses that had trees on roofs and through walls.

Harley Scott, a resident on Ogden Road in Rock Hill, said early Monday morning a tree fell across three vehicles in her driveway. And she’s counting her blessings because she didn’t fall asleep in her car after working third shift — something she does occasionally when she’s too tired to walk into her house.

“Trees are still falling in my yard,” she said. “I’m still in shock to be honest with you”

Houses weren’t the only thing damaged, according to Charlan James, manager of the Gunter Mercedes car dealership on Saluda Street. About 80 cars on the lot were likely destroyed because of hail damage, she said.

Tarps sat on the tops of cars with sun roofs smashed in and large hail marks. James said she was quoted $200 per hail mark repair on the cars.

“About 80% of our cars are a total loss,” James said.

As of Monday afternoon, the city of Rock Hill utilities department outage map showed more than 800 customers without power in areas south of the city center. The city of Rock Hill reported more than 60 utility poles were damaged.

The York County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release a section of the jail’s fence was damaged in the storm, but the facility remained secure during the storm. Inmates don’t have access to the area and extra deputies will be placed outside the fence until it’s fixed, the sheriff’s office said.