Iowa hail
Every recorded hail report since 1955 · 99 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 15,950 hail reports in Iowa from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 477 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the May 17, 1991 hail in Greene County: 4 deaths across 2 records. Iowa ranks 7th of 52 states and territories by count and 5th of 51 per square mile.
Hail in Iowa, 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
- 15,9501955 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 477average
- Deaths
- 4134 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $890Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2004932 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 Iowa?
Iowa averages about 477 hail reports a year since 2000, 7th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2004 (932). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Iowa records 2856 hail reports since 1955, 5th 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 Iowa have the most hail reports?
Per square mile, Polk County leads Iowa: 205 days with a hail report since 1955, 357.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Polk County has the most hail records (670 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).
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 Iowa?
48% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in May and June. The busiest month is June (3,854 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 10 · Feb 76 · Mar 799 · Apr 2,883 · May 3,777 · Jun 3,854 · Jul 2,023 · Aug 1,249 · Sep 926 · Oct 288 · Nov 51 · Dec 14 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.
What were the deadliest hail reports in Iowa?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-05-17 | HailGreene County Every hail record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 1.75 in hail | 4 | 0 | – |
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 Iowa
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-08-09 | HailEldora, Hardin County One storm episode: 13 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. | 3.00 in hail | 0 | 22 | $263M |
| 1997-05-18 | HailIowa City, Johnson County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2.75 in hail | 0 | 0 | $74M |
| 2003-05-08 | HailFt Madison, Lee County One storm episode: 10 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | $61M |
| 2002-10-01 | HailRoyal, Clay County | 1.50 in hail | 0 | 0 | $49M |
| 2009-07-24 | HailClermont Vly Airport, Fayette County One storm episode: 11 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | $41M |
| 2002-09-18 | HailMaquoketa, Jackson County One storm episode: 3 records; the totals are the episode's. | 2.75 in hail | 0 | 0 | $33M |
| 2003-05-10 | HailFairfax, Linn County One storm episode: 14 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1.75 in hail | 0 | 0 | $22M |
| 2014-06-30 | HailAdair County One storm episode: 21 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2.50 in hail | 0 | 0 | $17M |
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 Iowa?
Iowa'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.
| Decade | Iowa | United States | Iowa's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-59 | 50 | 2,477 | 2.0% |
| 1960s | 287 | 7,651 | 3.8% |
| 1970s | 453 | 11,007 | 4.1% |
| 1980s | 681 | 26,555 | 2.6% |
| 1990s | 1,826 | 75,581 | 2.4% |
| 2000s | 6,012 | 137,396 | 4.4% |
| 2010s | 4,399 | 107,281 | 4.1% |
| 2020-26 | 2,242 | 56,491 | 4.0% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent hail reports in Iowa
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | HailSioux City, Woodbury County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | HailSioux City, Woodbury County | 1.25 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | HailSioux City, Woodbury County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | HailSioux City, Woodbury County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailWebb, Clay County | 1.50 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailSanborn, O'Brien County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailHull, Sioux County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailHull, Sioux County | 1.50 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailRock Vly, Sioux County | 0.75 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-28 | HailCharlotte, Clinton County | 2.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-13 | HailHastings, Mills County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-13 | HailLake Manawa, Pottawattamie County | 1.00 in hail | 0 | 0 | – |
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 Iowa
FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 34 declarations in Iowa, 34 of them major disasters; the latest on September 1, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4942 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 4 |
| 2024-06-24 | DR-4796 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes | 29 |
| 2024-05-24 | DR-4784 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 29 |
| 2022-02-23 | DR-4642 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes | 25 |
| 2020-09-10 | DR-4561 | Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds | 1 |
| 2020-08-17 | DR-4557 | Severe Storms | 23 |
| 2018-09-12 | DR-4392 | Severe Storm and Tornadoes | 4 |
| 2018-08-20 | DR-4386 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 31 |
| 2017-08-27 | DR-4334 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 9 |
| 2015-07-31 | DR-4234 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 19 |
| 2014-08-05 | DR-4187 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 24 |
| 2014-07-14 | DR-4181 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 9 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Polk County: the county's whole recordThe Iowa county with the most hail reports per square mile
- Hail across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in IowaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Iowa17,986 records
- Winter storms in Iowa10,746 records
- Floods in Iowa7,383 records