PlainHazard

Tennessee hail

Every recorded hail report since 1955 · 95 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 7,175 hail reports in Tennessee from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 200 a year since 2000. The costliest was the March 2, 2012 hail ($32.2 million in 2025 dollars). Tennessee ranks 21st of 52 states and territories by count and 17th of 51 per square mile.

Hail in Tennessee, 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
7,1751955 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
200average
Deaths
015 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$55Mas filed
Busiest year
2006479 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 Tennessee?

Tennessee averages about 200 hail reports a year since 2000, 21st of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2006 (479). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Tennessee records 1740 hail reports since 1955, 17th 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. 17. Tennessee 1740

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 Tennessee have the most hail reports?

Per square mile, Davidson County leads Tennessee: 150 days with a hail report since 1955, 297.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Shelby County has the most hail records (312 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. Davidson County 297.9 (275)
  2. Hamblen County 285.4 (54)
  3. Shelby County 265.7 (312)
  4. Bradley County 246.4 (111)
  5. Loudon County 226.8 (65)
  6. Hamilton County 217.6 (168)
  7. Chester County 206.5 (76)
  8. Knox County 204.6 (169)
  9. Anderson County 192.8 (86)
  10. Meigs County 189.6 (43)
  11. Madison County 188.5 (156)
  12. Sumner County 181.3 (163)

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 Tennessee?

49% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The busiest month is April (1,811 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 204 · Feb 261 · Mar 974 · Apr 1,811 · May 1,695 · Jun 991 · Jul 472 · Aug 261 · Sep 115 · Oct 136 · Nov 148 · Dec 107 (records).

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

The costliest hail reports in Tennessee

Tennessee: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-03-02 HailBerry Hill, Davidson County One storm episode: 8 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 2.00 in hail 0 0 $32M
2011-10-18 HailRucker, Rutherford County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 2.75 in hail 0 0 $7.9M
1995-05-18 HailSmithville, DeKalb County Every hail record filed in the state that day (14, in 12 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. 1.75 in hail 0 9 $4.9M
1998-06-09 HailSmithville, DeKalb County 1.75 in hail 0 0 $1.4M
1994-04-27 HailLenoir City, Loudon County 1.75 in hail 0 0 $995K
1998-04-27 HailHuntingdon, Carroll County 2.75 in hail 0 0 $905K
2000-04-16 HailTiptonville, Lake County 1.75 in hail 0 0 $857K
1997-07-04 HailSandy Spgs, Robertson County 0.75 in hail 0 0 $735K

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 Tennessee?

Tennessee'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: Tennessee and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeTennesseeUnited StatesTennessee's share
1955-59312,4771.3%
1960s1107,6511.4%
1970s13411,0071.2%
1980s24226,5550.9%
1990s1,42875,5811.9%
2000s2,334137,3961.7%
2010s1,806107,2811.7%
2020-261,09056,4911.9%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent hail reports in Tennessee

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-29 HailAdams Mill, Washington County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-06-09 HailTurnersville, Robertson County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-28 HailShelby Farms, Shelby County 0.75 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-28 HailPisgah, Shelby County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-28 HailEllendale, Shelby County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-28 HailTrenton, Gibson County 1.25 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailDyersburg, Dyer County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailDickson County 1.25 in hail 0 0 –
2026-04-27 HailDickson County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-03-21 HailWashburn, Grainger County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-03-15 HailLick Creek, Benton County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –
2026-03-15 HailSt Joseph, Lawrence 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 Tennessee

FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 45 declarations in Tennessee, 44 of them major disasters; the latest on June 19, 2025.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
2025-06-19DR-4878Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding30
2025-04-02EM-3625Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding95
2024-06-17DR-4792Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding12
2023-12-13DR-4751Severe Storms and Tornadoes9
2023-09-27DR-4742Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornado10
2023-09-04DR-4735Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds4
2023-08-17DR-4729Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds3
2023-05-17DR-4712Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornado45
2023-04-07DR-4701Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes13
2022-03-11DR-4645Severe Winter Storm7
2020-07-09DR-4550Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding20
2020-04-24DR-4541Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding9

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

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