NOAA Storm Events · March 2018
Hail in March 2018: 529 NOAA reports across 18 states
NOAA logged 529 hail reports in March 2018, in 257 counties across 18 states. Texas had the most (169). The largest stone was 5.5 inches (a softball), near Smithville in Bastrop County, Texas, on March 18, 2018. The worst day was March 19, 2018, with 95 reports in 9 states.
- Where
- 257 counties in 18 states; Texas had 32% of the reports
- Largest stone
- 5.5 inches, a softball, in Bastrop County, TX (near Smithville), on March 18, 2018
- Worst day
- March 19, 2018: 95 reports in 9 states, 18% of the month
- Days with hail
- 18 of 31 days had at least one report
- under 1 in
- 1 to 1.74 in
- 1.75 to 2.74 in
- 2.75 in and up
Day by day
March 19, 2018 was the worst day with 95 reports. A day with hail averaged 29.
| March 1 | 2 |
|---|---|
| March 2 | 9 |
| March 3 | 7 |
| March 4 | 0 |
| March 5 | 10 |
| March 6 | 0 |
| March 7 | 0 |
| March 8 | 0 |
| March 9 | 0 |
| March 10 | 61 |
| March 11 | 18 |
| March 12 | 0 |
| March 13 | 0 |
| March 14 | 2 |
| March 15 | 0 |
| March 16 | 20 |
| March 17 | 61 |
| March 18 | 68 |
| March 19 | 95 |
| March 20 | 64 |
| March 21 | 0 |
| March 22 | 0 |
| March 23 | 15 |
| March 24 | 3 |
| March 25 | 20 |
| March 26 | 50 |
| March 27 | 11 |
| March 28 | 13 |
| March 29 | 0 |
| March 30 | 0 |
| March 31 | 0 |
Where it hit hardest
Ranked by NOAA hail reports. A report is one spotter or sensor entry for one county and storm, so counts follow where people live as well as where hail fell.
| TX | 169 |
|---|---|
| AL | 54 |
| AR | 50 |
| GA | 35 |
| CA | 29 |
| MS | 29 |
| SC | 27 |
| FL | 26 |
| TN | 25 |
| MO | 21 |
| # | State | Reports | Share | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 169 | 31.9% | 5.5 in |
| 2 | Alabama | 54 | 10.2% | 5.38 in |
| 3 | Arkansas | 50 | 9.5% | 3.5 in |
| 4 | Georgia | 35 | 6.6% | 2.12 in |
| 5 | California | 29 | 5.5% | 0.75 in |
| 6 | Mississippi | 29 | 5.5% | 2.75 in |
| 7 | South Carolina | 27 | 5.1% | 2 in |
| 8 | Florida | 26 | 4.9% | 2 in |
| 9 | Tennessee | 25 | 4.7% | 2.5 in |
| 10 | Missouri | 21 | 4.0% | 1.5 in |
| # | County | Reports | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazos County, TX | 11 | 3 in |
| 2 | Crawford County, AR | 8 | 1.75 in |
| 3 | Etowah County, AL | 8 | 2 in |
| 4 | Bastrop County, TX | 7 | 5.5 in |
| 5 | Burleson County, TX | 7 | 4.25 in |
| 6 | Clay County, TX | 7 | 1.75 in |
| 7 | Alameda County, CA | 6 | 0.25 in |
| 8 | Beaufort County, SC | 6 | 2 in |
| 9 | Bosque County, TX | 6 | 2.75 in |
| 10 | Charleston County, SC | 6 | 1.75 in |
County names link to the full hail history where we have published that county. The CSV below lists all 257 counties and all 18 states.
How March 2018 compares
| Compared with | Reports | March 2018 was |
|---|---|---|
| February 2018 | 39 | +490 (+1256%) |
| March 2017 | 1,483 | -954 (-64%) |
| the average March in the other 12 years | 726 | -197 (-27%) |
March 2018 was the 8th busiest March of the 13 in the record and the 72nd busiest of all 150 months.
| 2014 | 297 |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 525 |
| 2016 | 925 |
| 2017 | 1483 |
| 2018 | 529 |
| 2019 | 482 |
| 2020 | 509 |
| 2021 | 621 |
| 2022 | 274 |
| 2023 | 808 |
| 2024 | 847 |
| 2025 | 1084 |
| 2026 | 857 |
Every March in the record, 2014 to 2026. Months after June 2026 are not in NOAA's file yet.
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Download the data
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, hail rows at county level, data through June 2026. Reports are preliminary and unverified: they show that hail was reported in a county, not that a given roof was damaged. Method: how we count. More: State of Hail by year · county hail history · press.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, public domain. Counts and tables on this page are free to reuse with credit to PickARoofer under CC BY 4.0.