NOAA Storm Events · December 2021
Hail in December 2021: 123 NOAA reports across 16 states
NOAA logged 123 hail reports in December 2021, in 82 counties across 16 states. Missouri had the most (25). The largest stone was 4 inches (a grapefruit), near Plymouth in Lyon County, Kansas, on December 15, 2021. The worst day was December 15, 2021, with 28 reports in 6 states.
- Where
- 82 counties in 16 states; Missouri had 20% of the reports
- Largest stone
- 4 inches, a grapefruit, in Lyon County, KS (near Plymouth), on December 15, 2021
- Worst day
- December 15, 2021: 28 reports in 6 states, 23% of the month
- Days with hail
- 11 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
December 15, 2021 was the worst day with 28 reports. A day with hail averaged 11.
| December 1 | 0 |
|---|---|
| December 2 | 0 |
| December 3 | 0 |
| December 4 | 1 |
| December 5 | 25 |
| December 6 | 4 |
| December 7 | 0 |
| December 8 | 0 |
| December 9 | 0 |
| December 10 | 25 |
| December 11 | 1 |
| December 12 | 0 |
| December 13 | 1 |
| December 14 | 0 |
| December 15 | 28 |
| December 16 | 0 |
| December 17 | 5 |
| December 18 | 5 |
| December 19 | 0 |
| December 20 | 0 |
| December 21 | 0 |
| December 22 | 0 |
| December 23 | 0 |
| December 24 | 0 |
| December 25 | 0 |
| December 26 | 0 |
| December 27 | 0 |
| December 28 | 0 |
| December 29 | 2 |
| December 30 | 26 |
| December 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.
| MO | 25 |
|---|---|
| AR | 14 |
| GA | 13 |
| KS | 13 |
| OK | 10 |
| TX | 9 |
| AL | 7 |
| KY | 7 |
| NE | 7 |
| SC | 6 |
| # | State | Reports | Share | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missouri | 25 | 20.3% | 1.75 in |
| 2 | Arkansas | 14 | 11.4% | 1.75 in |
| 3 | Georgia | 13 | 10.6% | 1.75 in |
| 4 | Kansas | 13 | 10.6% | 4 in |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 10 | 8.1% | 1.75 in |
| 6 | Texas | 9 | 7.3% | 2 in |
| 7 | Alabama | 7 | 5.7% | 1.75 in |
| 8 | Kentucky | 7 | 5.7% | 1.75 in |
| 9 | Nebraska | 7 | 5.7% | 1.75 in |
| 10 | South Carolina | 6 | 4.9% | 1 in |
| # | County | Reports | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon County, KS | 6 | 4 in |
| 2 | Muscogee County, GA | 5 | 1.75 in |
| 3 | Dade County, MO | 4 | 1.75 in |
| 4 | Lee County, AL | 4 | 1.75 in |
| 5 | Taney County, MO | 4 | 1.25 in |
| 6 | Tulsa County, OK | 4 | 1 in |
| 7 | Douglas County, MO | 3 | 1 in |
| 8 | Lonoke County, AR | 3 | 1.25 in |
| 9 | Osage County, KS | 3 | 2 in |
| 10 | Pontotoc County, OK | 3 | 1 in |
County names link to the full hail history where we have published that county. The CSV below lists all 82 counties and all 16 states.
How December 2021 compares
| Compared with | Reports | December 2021 was |
|---|---|---|
| November 2021 | 67 | +56 (+84%) |
| December 2020 | 6 | +117 (+1950%) |
| the average December in the other 11 years | 44 | +79 (+180%) |
December 2021 was the busiest December of the 12 in the record and the 103rd busiest of all 150 months.
| 2014 | 63 |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 91 |
| 2016 | 24 |
| 2017 | 21 |
| 2018 | 61 |
| 2019 | 39 |
| 2020 | 6 |
| 2021 | 123 |
| 2022 | 20 |
| 2023 | 101 |
| 2024 | 58 |
| 2025 | 2 |
Every December 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.