Most hail talk is about how much falls. When it falls matters just as much to a homeowner: it decides whether a roof is exposed in January or only in June, and whether an inspection can wait until spring. We split 90,532 NOAA hail reports from 2014 to June 2026 by the calendar month of the storm, state by state, and the pattern is less uniform than the "spring hail season" shorthand suggests.
Nationally in our data, 62.2% of reports fall in April, May and June, and 75.1% once July is added. May alone holds 24.7%. The six months from October to March hold just 11.9% combined. That national average hides a wide split between states, which is the point of the table below.
Four states, four calendars
Texas peaks in May (35.6% of its 14,572 reports) and has 17.0% of reports between October and March, about 2,470 reports. Arkansas peaks a month earlier, in April, and has 29.0% of its reports in the cold half of the year. Colorado peaks in June and puts 41.2% of reports in July to September, with only 0.5% from October to March. South Dakota is similar: June peak, 53.1% in July to September, 0.6% in the cold half.
The full table
| State | Hail reports | Peak month | Peak month share | Apr to Jun | Jul to Sep | Oct to Mar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 14,572 | May | 35.6% | 78.0% | 5.0% | 17.0% |
| KS | 9,701 | May | 32.0% | 69.1% | 23.2% | 7.7% |
| NE | 7,170 | Jun | 29.4% | 58.0% | 38.6% | 3.5% |
| OK | 6,563 | May | 35.9% | 72.1% | 9.7% | 18.3% |
| CO | 5,463 | Jun | 34.4% | 58.4% | 41.2% | 0.5% |
| SD | 5,127 | Jun | 31.7% | 46.4% | 53.1% | 0.6% |
| MO | 4,500 | May | 29.5% | 61.9% | 11.5% | 26.6% |
| MN | 4,210 | Jun | 25.3% | 49.6% | 48.2% | 2.2% |
| IA | 3,954 | Jun | 26.3% | 68.6% | 20.9% | 10.5% |
| IL | 3,046 | Apr | 24.8% | 59.1% | 16.7% | 24.2% |
| WI | 2,911 | Apr | 20.7% | 56.9% | 37.2% | 6.0% |
| ND | 2,869 | Jul | 35.2% | 40.1% | 59.5% | 0.4% |
| WY | 1,948 | Jun | 37.6% | 50.9% | 48.8% | 0.3% |
| MT | 1,898 | Jun | 36.5% | 51.8% | 48.1% | 0.1% |
| AR | 1,857 | Apr | 31.3% | 62.5% | 8.5% | 29.0% |
| NM | 1,759 | May | 33.8% | 65.5% | 25.2% | 9.3% |
| PA | 1,167 | May | 24.8% | 57.6% | 29.2% | 13.2% |
| OH | 1,071 | May | 24.4% | 61.1% | 18.8% | 20.2% |
| IN | 1,020 | Mar | 23.7% | 51.8% | 17.9% | 30.3% |
Highlighted rows have a quarter or more of their reports between October and March. The highest cold-half shares among these 19 states belong to IN (30.3%), AR (29.0%) and MO (26.6%). The lowest belong to MT (0.1%), WY (0.3%) and ND (0.4%).
Where the calendar breaks the rule
The pattern is not strictly a spring one. North Dakota peaks in July with 35.2% of its reports in that single month, and 59.5% of its reports land in July to September. Arizona is the odd one out, though its 361 reports are too few to be firm: it peaks in September, with 22.2% in that month alone, a summer-storm pattern rather than a spring one. Smaller northern states lean the same way: 72.3% of the 112 Maine reports and 66.3% of the 252 New Hampshire reports fall in July to September.
Two cautions on reading the table. First, the dataset runs through June 2026, so January to June are counted over 12.5 years and July to December over 12. That tilts every state's summer-and-fall shares down by a small amount. Second, states with fewer than 1,000 reports are left out because a single busy day can swing their monthly shares; Mississippi, for example, has 746 reports in our data, and 44.0% of them fall in the cold half of the year, a figure that rests on few storms.
In states with a long tail (Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois), a hail event in a winter or early-spring month is a real possibility, so "the season is over" is a poor reason to skip an inspection after a reported storm. In Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas, the data point the other way: almost all reports arrive between April and September, which makes late fall a sensible time to check the roof before snow covers it. Wherever you live, the month is a prior, not a rule. What counts is whether hail was reported near your address, which you can check on our hail check tool.
Using the pattern as a homeowner
- Check after the storm, not by the calendar. The monthly shares describe where reports have clustered. They do not tell you whether your street was hit. The hail map and county hail history show reported events by place.
- Know your state's peak. Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri peak in May; South Dakota and Colorado peak in June. If you plan a reroof, the weeks before the peak are the lowest-risk time to have the old roof open, an inference from the monthly shares and not a guarantee.
- Know the cold-half risk where it exists. If you live in a state with a double-digit October to March share, treat a winter storm warning with hail the same way you would a May one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which month has the most hail reports in the United States?
In our NOAA data for 2014 to June 2026, May has the most, with 24.7% of all reports, followed by June (20.8%) and April (16.7%).
Does it hail in winter?
Yes, in some states. Texas has 17.0% of its reports between October and March, Arkansas 29.0% and Missouri 26.6%. Colorado (0.5%) and South Dakota (0.6%) have almost none in those months.
Which state has the latest hail season?
Among states with at least 1,000 reports, North Dakota peaks latest, in July, and has 59.5% of its reports in July to September. Arizona peaks in September.
Why do the months not add up evenly across years?
The dataset covers January 2014 to June 2026. January to June therefore have 12.5 years of data and July to December have 12, a small difference that slightly lowers the late-year shares.
Where the numbers come from
Data: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database hail reports, 1,275 US counties, 2014 to June 2026, grouped by the month of the event and processed by PickARoofer. A report is one entry in the database; several reports can describe the same storm. Method and limits: how we build our storm and hail figures.
Sources
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (ncei.noaa.gov)
- NWS Instruction 10-1605, Storm Data Preparation (weather.gov)
How we write and fund our articles: editorial policy.
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