California hail

Every recorded hail report since 1955 · 58 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 936 hail reports in California from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 28 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the November 27, 2019 hail in Humboldt County: 1 death. California ranks 40th of 52 states and territories by count and 47th of 51 per square mile.

Hail in California, 1955 to 2026

Hail records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996

Records: 9361955 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000: 28average
Deaths: 249 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $376Mas filed
Busiest year: 201879 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are hail reports common in California?

California averages about 28 hail reports a year since 2000, 40th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2018 (79). Per 10,000 square miles of land, California records 60 hail reports since 1955, 47th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in California have the most hail reports?

Per square mile, Santa Cruz County leads California: 16 days with a hail report since 1955, 35.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Fresno County has the most hail records (85 since 1955); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

Santa Cruz County 35.9 (21)
Marin County 21.1 (12)
San Mateo County 20.1 (9)
Alameda County 19.0 (20)
Nevada County 16.7 (18)
Kings County 14.4 (24)
Santa Clara County 13.9 (35)
Orange County 13.9 (13)
Contra Costa County 11.2 (14)
San Diego County 10.9 (53)
El Dorado County 10.5 (22)
Placer County 8.5 (12)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is hail season in California?

California's hail reports by month. The busiest month is March (169 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 70 · Feb 74 · Mar 169 · Apr 99 · May 86 · Jun 49 · Jul 129 · Aug 102 · Sep 80 · Oct 45 · Nov 17 · Dec 16 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.

What were the deadliest hail reports in California?

California: the storms with the most deaths since 1955
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2019-11-27	HailMiranda, Humboldt County One person killed and others injured when driver lost control of vehicle while driving across small hail accumulation on highway.	0.25 in hail	1	0	–
2000-03-06	HailTustin, Orange County Hail ranging in diameter from the size of chick peas to golf balls, covered the ground to a depth of several inches. The Costa Mesa Freeway was closed for about 30 minutes. One motorist died when he lost control of his vehicle and was broadsided by semi-tractor trailer.	1.50 in hail	1	0	$129K

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest hail reports in California

California: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Damage
1994-03-05	HailFresno County	1.12 in hail	$101M
1998-06-06	HailReedley, Fresno County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's.	1.00 in hail	$50M
1999-04-08	HailReedley, Fresno County One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's.	0.75 in hail	$44M
2002-05-20	HailAir Terminal, Fresno County	1.00 in hail	$40M
2017-01-19	HailLos Gatos, Santa Clara County One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's.	0.25 in hail	$24M
2012-04-11	HailTraver, Tulare County One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places, 2012-04-11 to 2012-04-12; the totals are the episode's.	1.00 in hail	$20M
1998-03-28	HailVisalia, Tulare County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's.		$18M
2001-04-07	HailFresno County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's.	0.75 in hail	$18M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are hail reports becoming more frequent in California?

California's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Hail: California and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
Decade	California	United States	California's share
1955-59	16	2,477	0.65%
1960s	8	7,651	0.10%
1970s	9	11,007	0.08%
1980s	38	26,555	0.14%
1990s	123	75,581	0.16%
2000s	302	137,396	0.22%
2010s	325	107,281	0.30%
2020-26	115	56,491	0.20%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent hail reports in California

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
Date	Record	Character	Injured	Damage
2026-04-10	HailRipon, San Joaquin County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2026-04-10	HailRio Vista Municipal Airport, Solano County	1.50 in hail	0	–
2026-04-09	HailOrleans, Humboldt County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2025-09-25	HailToms Place, Mono County	0.25 in hail	1	–
2025-09-18	HailTwenty Nine Palms, San Bernardino County	0.75 in hail	0	–
2025-07-30	HailTrinity Center, Trinity County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2025-07-26	HailEcho Lake, El Dorado County	0.75 in hail	0	–
2025-07-02	HailAl Tahoe, El Dorado County	0.75 in hail	0	–
2025-07-02	HailLake Tahoe Airport, El Dorado County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2025-06-03	HailChambless, San Bernardino County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2025-06-03	HailJoshua Tree, San Bernardino County	1.00 in hail	0	–
2025-04-26	HailBeaumont, Riverside County	0.50 in hail	1	–

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for hail reports in California

FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 23 declarations in California, 23 of them major disasters; the latest on April 19, 2024.

The 12 most recent
Declared	Number	Title	Areas named
2024-04-19	DR-4773	Severe Winter Storm	1
2024-04-19	DR-4772	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2024-04-13	DR-4769	Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	9
2023-05-25	DR-4714	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2023-05-18	DR-4713	Severe Winter Storm and Flooding	1
2023-04-03	DR-4699	Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	46
2019-05-17	DR-4434	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	18
2019-05-01	DR-4431	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	11
2019-04-08	DR-4425	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2019-03-28	DR-4423	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2019-03-26	DR-4422	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	1
2017-05-02	DR-4312	Flooding	1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.