NOAA Storm Events · August 2021
Hail in August 2021: 735 NOAA reports across 34 states
NOAA logged 735 hail reports in August 2021, in 318 counties across 34 states. South Dakota had the most (151). The largest stone was 4.5 inches (a softball), near Deerfield in Pennington County, South Dakota, on August 26, 2021. The worst day was August 7, 2021, with 77 reports in 12 states.
- Where
- 318 counties in 34 states; South Dakota had 20% of the reports
- Largest stone
- 4.5 inches, a softball, in Pennington County, SD (near Deerfield), on August 26, 2021
- Worst day
- August 7, 2021: 77 reports in 12 states, 10% of the month
- Days with hail
- 30 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
August 7, 2021 was the worst day with 77 reports. A day with hail averaged 24.
| August 1 | 15 |
|---|---|
| August 2 | 2 |
| August 3 | 1 |
| August 4 | 5 |
| August 5 | 26 |
| August 6 | 12 |
| August 7 | 77 |
| August 8 | 4 |
| August 9 | 31 |
| August 10 | 42 |
| August 11 | 12 |
| August 12 | 64 |
| August 13 | 12 |
| August 14 | 63 |
| August 15 | 24 |
| August 16 | 5 |
| August 17 | 3 |
| August 18 | 3 |
| August 19 | 45 |
| August 20 | 7 |
| August 21 | 10 |
| August 22 | 42 |
| August 23 | 8 |
| August 24 | 19 |
| August 25 | 16 |
| August 26 | 27 |
| August 27 | 17 |
| August 28 | 64 |
| August 29 | 3 |
| August 30 | 76 |
| August 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.
| SD | 151 |
|---|---|
| KS | 107 |
| NE | 104 |
| ND | 60 |
| CO | 48 |
| MN | 43 |
| IA | 27 |
| WI | 22 |
| TX | 17 |
| NC | 16 |
| # | State | Reports | Share | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 151 | 20.5% | 4.5 in |
| 2 | Kansas | 107 | 14.6% | 3.5 in |
| 3 | Nebraska | 104 | 14.1% | 2.5 in |
| 4 | North Dakota | 60 | 8.2% | 3 in |
| 5 | Colorado | 48 | 6.5% | 2 in |
| 6 | Minnesota | 43 | 5.9% | 3.75 in |
| 7 | Iowa | 27 | 3.7% | 4 in |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 22 | 3.0% | 2.5 in |
| 9 | Texas | 17 | 2.3% | 2 in |
| 10 | North Carolina | 16 | 2.2% | 1.75 in |
| # | County | Reports | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennington County, SD | 18 | 4.5 in |
| 2 | Brown County, SD | 13 | 2.75 in |
| 3 | Jefferson County, CO | 12 | 2 in |
| 4 | Morton County, ND | 11 | 2.75 in |
| 5 | Edmunds County, SD | 10 | 2.5 in |
| 6 | Adams County, CO | 9 | 1.5 in |
| 7 | Johnson County, KS | 9 | 1.75 in |
| 8 | Minnehaha County, SD | 9 | 3.5 in |
| 9 | Custer County, SD | 8 | 2 in |
| 10 | Douglas County, CO | 8 | 1 in |
County names link to the full hail history where we have published that county. The CSV below lists all 318 counties and all 34 states.
How August 2021 compares
| Compared with | Reports | August 2021 was |
|---|---|---|
| July 2021 | 764 | -29 (-4%) |
| August 2020 | 974 | -239 (-25%) |
| the average August in the other 11 years | 789 | -54 (-7%) |
August 2021 was the 8th busiest August of the 12 in the record and the 64th busiest of all 150 months.
| 2014 | 768 |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1022 |
| 2016 | 568 |
| 2017 | 769 |
| 2018 | 863 |
| 2019 | 1287 |
| 2020 | 974 |
| 2021 | 735 |
| 2022 | 378 |
| 2023 | 920 |
| 2024 | 636 |
| 2025 | 494 |
Every August in the record, 2014 to 2025. 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.