NOAA Storm Events · December 2023

Hail in December 2023: 101 NOAA reports across 9 states

NOAA logged 101 hail reports in December 2023, in 60 counties across 9 states. Mississippi had the most (44). The largest stone was 4 inches (a grapefruit), near Red Banks in Marshall County, Mississippi, on December 9, 2023. The worst day was December 9, 2023, with 88 reports in 7 states.

Where
60 counties in 9 states; Mississippi had 44% of the reports
Largest stone
4 inches, a grapefruit, in Marshall County, MS (near Red Banks), on December 9, 2023
Worst day
December 9, 2023: 88 reports in 7 states, 87% of the month
Days with hail
6 of 31 days had at least one report
Hail reports in December 2023, lower 48 states
  • under 1 in
  • 1 to 1.74 in
  • 1.75 to 2.74 in
  • 2.75 in and up
101 of the 101 reports have coordinates in the lower 48 and are drawn. One dot is a half-degree square (roughly 35 miles); a bigger dot means more reports, and the color is the largest stone in that square.

Day by day

December 9, 2023 was the worst day with 88 reports. A day with hail averaged 17.

Hail reports per day in December 2023 December 1: 1 reports 1 December 2: 0 reports December 3: 2 reports December 4: 0 reports December 5: 0 reports 5 December 6: 0 reports December 7: 0 reports December 8: 1 reports December 9: 88 reports 88 December 10: 4 reports 10 December 11: 0 reports December 12: 0 reports December 13: 0 reports December 14: 0 reports December 15: 0 reports 15 December 16: 0 reports December 17: 0 reports December 18: 0 reports December 19: 0 reports December 20: 0 reports 20 December 21: 0 reports December 22: 0 reports December 23: 5 reports December 24: 0 reports December 25: 0 reports 25 December 26: 0 reports December 27: 0 reports December 28: 0 reports December 29: 0 reports December 30: 0 reports 30 December 31: 0 reports
Hail reports per day, December 2023
December 11
December 20
December 32
December 40
December 50
December 60
December 70
December 81
December 988
December 104
December 110
December 120
December 130
December 140
December 150
December 160
December 170
December 180
December 190
December 200
December 210
December 220
December 235
December 240
December 250
December 260
December 270
December 280
December 290
December 300
December 310

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.

Top 9 states by hail reports, December 2023 44 MS 22 LA 17 TN 7 TX 3 AL 3 AR 2 GA 2 OH 1 KY
Top 9 states by hail reports, December 2023
MS44
LA22
TN17
TX7
AL3
AR3
GA2
OH2
KY1
Top 9 states
#StateReportsShareLargest
1Mississippi4443.6%4 in
2Louisiana2221.8%2.5 in
3Tennessee1716.8%1.75 in
4Texas76.9%1 in
5Alabama33.0%1 in
6Arkansas33.0%1.5 in
7Georgia22.0%1 in
8Ohio22.0%0.75 in
9Kentucky11.0%0.88 in
Top 10 counties
#CountyReportsLargest
1Ouachita Parish, LA92.5 in
2Natchitoches Parish, LA61.75 in
3Marshall County, MS54 in
4Benton County, TN31.25 in
5Carroll County, TN31.5 in
6Lee County, MS31.5 in
7Pontotoc County, MS31.25 in
8Union Parish, LA31.25 in
9Attala County, MS21 in
10Chickasaw County, MS21.5 in

County names link to the full hail history where we have published that county. The CSV below lists all 60 counties and all 9 states.

How December 2023 compares

Compared withReportsDecember 2023 was
November 202311+90 (+818%)
December 202220+81 (+405%)
the average December in the other 11 years46+55 (+120%)

December 2023 was the 2nd busiest December of the 12 in the record and the 108th busiest of all 150 months.

NOAA hail reports in December, by year 63 2014 91 2015 24 2016 21 2017 61 2018 39 2019 6 2020 123 2021 20 2022 101 2023 58 2024 2 2025
NOAA hail reports in December, by year
201463
201591
201624
201721
201861
201939
20206
2021123
202220
2023101
202458
20252

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.