Greg Esposito | The Roanoke Times

Rusty Bergdoll (left) a Virginia Tech junior, and John Binns, a senior, walk up their flooded driveway off Jennelle Road outside Blacksburg after heavy rains fell Wednesday afternoon.

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A powerful thunderstorm brought nickel-sized hail and more than 2 inches of rainfall to parts of the New River Valley in less than an hour Wednesday afternoon.

While the New River was visibly up in the flood-prone Elliston-Lafayette section of Montgomery County, there was no visible flooding by late afternoon.

Meteorologist Jan Jackson with the National Weather Service said a steady rain could continue throughout the night, but that it was unlikely the river would come out of its banks.

"It takes a lot to do that," he said.

Still, localized flooding was reported in several areas after the heaviest rain in months, including the Ellett Valley area of Montgomery County and the Hiwassee section of Pulaski County.

The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said several Hiwassee roads were closed Wednesday afternoon after they were flooded during the heavy downpour.

In Montgomery County, sections of Hightop, Merrimac and Yellow Sulphur roads were among those that were temporarily impassible.

More than 2¹₂ inches of rain fell at the weather service's Blacksburg building in about 45 minutes, Jackson said.

Nickel-sized hail was reported in Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Montgomery County and parts of Pulaski County, Jackson said. Quarter-sized hail was reported in the Dublin area, he said.

Hailstones were collected in a median strip of U.S. 460 West near Merrimac.

Blacksburg attorney Christopher Tuck said he thought the pile of white stuff was trash. When he realized it was hail, he pulled out his cellphone and snapped a picture.

"It's just like snow," he said.

In the mountains of Ashe County, N.C., the hail got as big as golf balls, Jackson said.

Hail is expected at this time of year, he said, but intense thunderstorms are not.

"The air mass we're in would be more typical for May," he said.

Warm weather combined with moist air and an upper-level disturbance to produce this storm, which stayed in each locality about an hour, Jackson said.

That was enough to cause Montgomery County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Chandler's car to stall in floodwaters on Jennelle Road as he was responding to a 4:30 p.m. call that a woman and child were trapped in their home.

That turned out not to be the case, but Chandler's car had to be pushed out of the water by a truck and towed.

Several cars approaching that section of road turned around in the driveway of Virginia Tech's Theta Chi fraternity house. Tech students John Binns and Rusty Bergdoll were playing ball when it started raining heavily.

"And within an hour, this happened," Binns said, pointing at their flooded yard and driveway.

Bergdoll estimated the creek next to their house rose 8 feet in about an hour and a half.

Staff writers Greg Esposito and Tim Thornton contributed to this report.