PlainHazard

Kentucky hail

Every recorded hail report since 1955 · 120 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 6,621 hail reports in Kentucky from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 200 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the March 27, 2017 hail in Laurel County: 1 death. Kentucky ranks 23rd of 52 states and territories by count and 19th of 51 per square mile.

Hail in Kentucky, 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
6,6211955 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
200average
Deaths
19 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$1.1Bas filed
Busiest year
2006453 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 Kentucky?

Kentucky averages about 200 hail reports a year since 2000, 23rd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2006 (453). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Kentucky records 1677 hail reports since 1955, 19th of 51 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Kansas 4920
  2. 2. Oklahoma 4607
  3. 3. Nebraska 3261
  4. 4. Missouri 2974
  5. 5. Iowa 2856
  6. 6. Arkansas 2407
  7. 7. South Dakota 2244
  8. 8. Ohio 2241
  9. 9. South Carolina 2226
  10. 10. Illinois 2221
  11. 19. Kentucky 1677

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 Kentucky have the most hail reports?

Per square mile, Campbell County leads Kentucky: 45 days with a hail report since 1955, 297.4 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Jefferson County has the most hail records (208 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).

  1. Campbell County 297.4 (61)
  2. Jefferson County 275.7 (208)
  3. Oldham County 267.0 (72)
  4. Kenton County 261.9 (53)
  5. McCracken County 257.2 (77)
  6. Marshall County 235.0 (93)
  7. Daviess County 229.1 (148)
  8. Calloway County 220.9 (106)
  9. Boone County 219.3 (78)
  10. Boyd County 212.7 (51)
  11. Carlisle County 195.3 (41)
  12. Fulton County 194.2 (48)

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 Kentucky?

50% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The busiest month is May (1,850 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 112 · Feb 221 · Mar 760 · Apr 1,468 · May 1,850 · Jun 933 · Jul 589 · Aug 300 · Sep 102 · Oct 137 · Nov 105 · Dec 44 (records).

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

What were the deadliest hail reports in Kentucky?

Kentucky: the storms with the most deaths since 1955
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2017-03-27 HailBernstadt, Laurel County A department of highways official relayed a report of half dollar to golf ball size hail from near Bernstadt to East Bernstadt. 1.75 in hail 1 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 Kentucky

Kentucky: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1998-04-16 HailBowling Green, Warren County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 2.75 in hail 0 0 $923M
2002-05-01 HailCountywide, Laurel County 4.50 in hail 0 0 $53M
2003-05-04 HailMassac, McCracken County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 2.50 in hail 0 1 $48M
1996-05-03 HailLouisville, Jefferson County 2.75 in hail 0 0 $38M
2002-05-01 HailCountywide, Pulaski County 4.50 in hail 0 0 $9.8M
1995-05-14 HailMarion County 2.75 in hail 0 0 $9.7M
2002-05-01 HailCountywide, Rockcastle County 2.75 in hail 0 0 $9.0M
2012-03-02 HailCampton, Wolfe County One storm episode: 11 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. 3.00 in hail 0 0 $2.6M

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 Kentucky?

Kentucky'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: Kentucky and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeKentuckyUnited StatesKentucky's share
1955-59172,4770.7%
1960s887,6511.2%
1970s13711,0071.2%
1980s28126,5551.1%
1990s88575,5811.2%
2000s2,485137,3961.8%
2010s1,950107,2811.8%
2020-2677856,4911.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent hail reports in Kentucky

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-05-19 HailHerbert, Ohio County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-05-16 HailSimpsonville, Shelby County 0.88 in hail 0 0 –
2026-05-16 HailLouisville, Jefferson County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailOwensboro Airport, Daviess County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailMaple Mt, Daviess County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailBeech Grove, McLean County 1.25 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailSebree, Webster County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-16 HailPalma, Marshall County 2.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-16 HailOak Level, Marshall County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-16 HailBenton, Marshall County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-16 HailSharpe, Marshall County 2.00 in hail 0 0 $45K
2026-04-16 HailHickory, Graves County 0.88 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 Kentucky

FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 41 declarations in Kentucky, 39 of them major disasters; the latest on September 1, 2026.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
2026-09-01DR-4937Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides20
2025-05-23DR-4875Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes39
2025-04-24DR-4864Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides91
2025-04-03EM-3626Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding120
2025-02-24DR-4860Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides69
2025-02-16EM-3624Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides120
2024-07-23DR-4804Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, and Mudslides58
2024-05-22DR-4782Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, and Mudslides11
2023-04-10DR-4702Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides88
2022-02-27DR-4643Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides13
2020-04-24DR-4540Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides27
2019-04-17DR-4428Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides61

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

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