NOAA Storm Events · March 2026
Hail in March 2026: 857 NOAA reports across 23 states
NOAA logged 857 hail reports in March 2026, in 353 counties across 23 states. Illinois had the most (177). The largest stone was 6.6 inches (a softball), near West Kankakee in Kankakee County, Illinois, on March 10, 2026. The worst day was March 10, 2026, with 267 reports in 8 states.
- Where
- 353 counties in 23 states; Illinois had 21% of the reports
- Largest stone
- 6.6 inches, a softball, in Kankakee County, IL (near West Kankakee), on March 10, 2026
- Worst day
- March 10, 2026: 267 reports in 8 states, 31% of the month
- Days with hail
- 17 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 10, 2026 was the worst day with 267 reports. A day with hail averaged 50.
| March 1 | 15 |
|---|---|
| March 2 | 0 |
| March 3 | 4 |
| March 4 | 25 |
| March 5 | 18 |
| March 6 | 52 |
| March 7 | 19 |
| March 8 | 0 |
| March 9 | 14 |
| March 10 | 267 |
| March 11 | 9 |
| March 12 | 1 |
| March 13 | 0 |
| March 14 | 0 |
| March 15 | 96 |
| March 16 | 6 |
| March 17 | 0 |
| March 18 | 0 |
| March 19 | 0 |
| March 20 | 0 |
| March 21 | 2 |
| March 22 | 130 |
| March 23 | 0 |
| March 24 | 0 |
| March 25 | 0 |
| March 26 | 74 |
| March 27 | 0 |
| March 28 | 0 |
| March 29 | 0 |
| March 30 | 47 |
| March 31 | 78 |
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.
| IL | 177 |
|---|---|
| OH | 95 |
| TX | 85 |
| OK | 71 |
| KS | 62 |
| IA | 60 |
| MI | 55 |
| IN | 52 |
| AR | 36 |
| MS | 24 |
| # | State | Reports | Share | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | 177 | 20.7% | 6.6 in |
| 2 | Ohio | 95 | 11.1% | 1.75 in |
| 3 | Texas | 85 | 9.9% | 4.5 in |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 71 | 8.3% | 2.75 in |
| 5 | Kansas | 62 | 7.2% | 3 in |
| 6 | Iowa | 60 | 7.0% | 2.75 in |
| 7 | Michigan | 55 | 6.4% | 2.75 in |
| 8 | Indiana | 52 | 6.1% | 2 in |
| 9 | Arkansas | 36 | 4.2% | 2 in |
| 10 | Mississippi | 24 | 2.8% | 1.75 in |
| # | County | Reports | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnson County, KS | 26 | 1.5 in |
| 2 | Oklahoma County, OK | 20 | 2.75 in |
| 3 | Will County, IL | 17 | 3 in |
| 4 | Cook County, IL | 16 | 2 in |
| 5 | Kankakee County, IL | 16 | 6.6 in |
| 6 | Johnson County, IA | 15 | 2.75 in |
| 7 | Ottawa County, MI | 14 | 2.75 in |
| 8 | Champaign County, IL | 13 | 1.75 in |
| 9 | Canadian County, OK | 11 | 2.25 in |
| 10 | DuPage County, IL | 9 | 4.8 in |
County names link to the full hail history where we have published that county. The CSV below lists all 353 counties and all 23 states.
How March 2026 compares
| Compared with | Reports | March 2026 was |
|---|---|---|
| February 2026 | 173 | +684 (+395%) |
| March 2025 | 1,084 | -227 (-21%) |
| the average March in the other 12 years | 699 | +158 (+23%) |
March 2026 was the 4th busiest March of the 13 in the record and the 55th 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.