why does noaa Say severe is just marginally sever hail...?

Question

and heavy rain and lightning? i thought severe ment heavy rain\lightning\70 mile winds\tornadoes.

Answer 1

NOAA looks at the "potential of bad weather" in a storm system. They felt that the storm had the right conditions to be severe and the potential was there, so be glad you only got what you got!

Answer 2

The definition of a severe thunderstorm is any storm producing >57 mph winds, hail 3/4" in diameter or more, or tornadoes. If the Weather Service says that hail is marginally severe, it usually means that radar has estimated that the largest hail is right around or just slightly smaller than 3/4". Most people find that size of hail annoying (it dings cars, etc.), rather than dangerous, so it is just to let you know that the hail is just barely considered severe.