Largest Hailstones in Recent US History; Some Nearly the Size of a Volleyball

By Sam Stebbins  •  June 11, 2026
a white flower on the ground
Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash

Hail is a natural phenomenon that can occur during thunderstorms. Hailstones are formed when updrafts carry rain drops into colder layers of the atmosphere, causing them to freeze before they fall to the ground. Smaller hailstones tend to fall at relatively modest speeds, typically less than 25 miles per hour. But the largest hailstones are estimated to move at speeds closer to 100 mph, posing an existential risk to life and property. Each year in the United States, there are approximately 3,000 hail storms that result in an average of $1.6 billion in insured property damage, according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. 

Most hailstones that fall in the United States are only about one-quarter of an inch in diameter – or roughly the size of a pea. When storms produce hailstones with diameters of an inch or more, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration considers it a severe event – and in many parts of the country, severe hailstorms are not uncommon. 

NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory uses a scale of common objects to estimate hail size. For example, hailstones with 1.75 inch diameters are comparable to a golfball. Add another inch, and hail is roughly the size of a baseball. At 4.5 inches, hailstones are classified as grapefruit size. Notably, however, NOAA does not list items of comparable size beyond the 4.5 inch threshold – and while hailstones larger than a grapefruit are historically rare, there have been multiple reported instances of hailstones with diameters of half a foot or more in the United States.

Using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Crisis 247 identified the largest reported hailstones in recent U.S. history. We reviewed data on all hailstorms between 2000 and 2025, and ranked them on the largest reported hailstone diameter associated with the event. Where available, estimated damage totals only include the monetary value of destroyed property in the state where the largest hailstone was reported. There have been multiple hailstorms that produced 6-inch hailstones in the 21st century, and of these events, only the two most destructive rank on this list. All supplemental data is also from NOAA. 

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Photo by andrei32 on Pixabay

9. 6 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of Two Oranges

  • Reported location of hailstone: Linn County, Missouri
  • Date of occurrence: May 24, 2004
  • Additional Missouri counties impacted by hailstorm: Caldwell, De Kalb, Holt, Mercer, Harrison, Atchison, Clinton, Gentry, Livingston, Nodaway, Sullivan, Macon, Johnson, Andrew, Platte, Daviess, Buchanan, Adair, Cass, Bates
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: $1,562,000 (and more than $1 million in crop damage
  • Incident details: The largest hailstone in state history, measuring 6 inches in diameter, fell in Linn County, Missouri.

8. 6 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of two oranges

  • Reported location of hailstone: Pontotoc County, Oklahoma
  • Date of occurrence: March 14, 2024
  • Additional Oklahoma counties impacted by hailstorm: Marshall, Johnston, Love, Murray, Hughes, Atoka, Lincoln, Love, Seminole, Coal, Jefferson, Garvin, Carter, Pottawatomie
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: $2,000,000
  • Incident details: Hail, potentially as large as 6.1 inches in diameter according to photo analysis, fell near Ada, Oklahoma.

7. 6.12 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of two apples

  • Reported location of hailstone: Blanco County, Texas
  • Date of occurrence: May 9, 2024
  • Additional Texas counties impacted by hailstorm: Hays, Lee, Williamson, Llano
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: $20,005,000
  • Incident details: Estimated cost of $750,000 for debris removal in the city of San Marcos alone

6. 6.42 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of two apples

  • Reported location of hailstone: Medina County, Texas
  • Date of occurrence: April 28, 2021
  • Additional Texas counties impacted by hailstorm: Val Verde, Uvalde, Hays, Bexar, Cornal, Kinney, Real, Kerr, Bandera
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: At least $1000,000
  • Incident details: A 1.3 pound hailstone with a diameter of 6.4 inches fell in Hondo, Texas. At the time, it was the largest hailstone in Texas history.

5. 6.88 inch hailstone – Approx. the height of a football

  • Reported location of hailstone: Charles Mix County, South Dakota
  • Date of occurrence: August 21, 2007
  • Additional South Dakota counties impacted by hailstorm: Douglas, Yankton, Clay, Bon Homme
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: Unknown
  • Incident details: Hail produced divots in the ground that were 3 inches deep and up to 12 inches long.

4. 7 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of cantaloupe

  • Reported location of hailstone: Hamilton County, Nebraska
  • Date of occurrence: June 22, 2003
  • Additional Nebraska counties impacted by hailstorm: Thayer, Hall, Nance, Merrick, Greeley, York, Phelps, Adams, Valley, Polk, Clay, Nuckolls, Howard, Franklin
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: $50,000 (and nearly $2.5 million in crop damage)
  • Incident details: A 7 inch hailstone fell near Aurora, Nebraska. At the time, it was the largest known hailstone in U.S. history.

3. 7.02 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of cantaloupe

  • Reported location of hailstone: Swisher County, Texas
  • Date of occurrence: June 2, 2024
  • Additional Texas counties impacted by hailstorm: Briscoe, Lubbock
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: Unknown
  • Incident details: The 7+ inch hailstone fell outside of Vigo Park, Texas, and is the largest ever recorded in the state’s history.

2. 7.75 inch hailstone – Approx. the height of a rugby ball

  • Reported location of hailstone: Sedgwick County, Kansas
  • Date of occurrence: September 15, 2010
  • Additional Kansas counties impacted by hailstorm: Montgomery, Reno, Butler, McPherson, Cowley, Wilson, Chautauqua
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: $150,020,000
  • Incident details: The nearly 8 inch hail stone fell in West Wichita, Kansas. Although it was not officially measured until 15 hours after it landed, it still weighed in at 1.1 pounds. It is the largest hailstone known to have fallen in Kansas.

1. 8 inch hailstone – Approx. the size of a volley ball

  • Reported location of hailstone: Lyman County, South Dakota
  • Date of occurrence: July 23, 2010
  • Additional South Dakota counties impacted by hailstorm: Faulk, Potter, Spink, Stanley, Jones
  • Statewide property damage linked to hailstorm: Unknown
  • Incident details: The 8+ inch hailstone fell outside of Vivian, South Dakota. Weighing nearly 2 pounds, it is the largest hailstone on record in South Dakota.


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