I was surfing the next this evening when I heard an unusual sound. Outside a fast-moving storm was developing, dropping some heavy rain before vanishing minutes later. It wasn’t a minute or two later that Kelly came home. Not only was it raining, she said, but it was hailing, too. I walked outside to find pea-sized hail on the front porch.

Hail in December from a stealthy storm. Quite unusual.

[Update]: The NWS has set me straight. It was sleet (which I find almost as hard to believe, considering its suddenness):

A BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH ACROSS THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN AND NORTH EAST PIEDMONT OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE AIR IS COOL ENOUGH ALOFT THAT WHERE THE ISOLATED HEAVIER RAIN SHOWERS OCCUR…A LITTLE SLEET WILL BE MIXED IN WITH THE RAIN. THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF SLEET IN NORTHERN WAKE COUNTY. THE RAIN WILL END IN THE RALEIGH BY 1030 PM…AND AROUND WILSON…NASHVILLE AND ROCKY MOUNT BY 12 MIDNIGHT.