Crawford County, IA hail & severe wind history
101 storm reports on file for Crawford County between 2010-06-22 and 2025-08-09 — 36 hail and 65 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 6.3 reports a year, and May is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Jul 15, 2024 — 2.5" (tennis ball), 0.69 mi S of Vail.
- Hail was reported on 25 days since 2010 — about 1.7 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 2.75" (baseball) on Apr 19, 2023.
- Crawford County has more hail reports than 18% of the 99 Iowa counties we cover.
Search every Crawford County report
Check a single date first, or filter the full record below — pick a year, narrow to a month, or drag the hail-size slider to see only the larger stones (1", quarter size, is the National Weather Service severe threshold).
Loading Crawford County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Crawford County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-08-31 | 7 | 1" (quarter) | 70 mph |
| 2012-05-19 | 6 | — | 70 mph |
| 2024-07-15 | 4 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | — |
| 2020-08-10 | 4 | — | 64 mph |
| 2011-06-26 | 4 | — | 70 mph |
| 2023-04-19 | 3 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2011-05-12 | 3 | 1" (quarter) | — |
| 2010-09-13 | 3 | 1" (quarter) | 63 mph |
| 2025-08-09 | 3 | — | 64 mph |
| 2016-07-05 | 3 | — | 75 mph |
Reports by year
Report counts are driven partly by how many people were around to report a storm, so recent years tend to look busier than the early 2010s. Treat the trend as a reporting trend, not purely a weather trend.
Notable large-hail events (2" and up)
| Date | Size | Near | What was reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-07-15 | 2.5" tennis ball | .69 mi S of Vail | Forward from broadcast media, with time estimated by radar. |
| 2024-07-15 | 2" hen egg | 0 mi N of Westside | Delayed report of 2 inch hail in Westside. |
| 2023-04-19 | 2" hen egg | 2.14 mi NNE of Charter Oak | Delayed report via social media, time estimated by radar. |
| 2023-04-19 | 2.75" baseball | .51 mi E of Charter Oak | Significant car damage was reported. |
| 2023-04-19 | 2.75" baseball | .51 mi W of Schleswig | Delayed report, time estimated by radar. Severely damaged cars with ground covered in hail. |
| 2013-04-09 | 2" hen egg | 2.14 mi SSE of Charter Oak | No narrative filed |
When does hail hit Crawford County?
Across 15 years of records, May produced the most reports (29), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 0 | 0.0% |
| March | 2 | 2.0% |
| April | 6 | 5.9% |
| May | 29 | 28.7% |
| June | 17 | 16.8% |
| July | 19 | 18.8% |
| August | 22 | 21.8% |
| September | 5 | 5.0% |
| October | 0 | 0.0% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 1 | 1.0% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Crawford County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Woodbury County, IA | 290 | 2.75" |
| Harrison County, IA | 156 | 3" |
| Carroll County, IA | 125 | 2.5" |
| Shelby County, IA | 109 | 3" |
| Ida County, IA | 105 | 2.5" |
| Audubon County, IA | 86 | 1.75" |
| Sac County, IA | 75 | 2.75" |
| Monona County, IA | 72 | 3.5" |
Common questions about hail in Crawford County
- How often does it hail in Crawford County?
- Hail was reported on 25 separate days between 2010 and 2025, about 1.7 days a year, with May the busiest month for storm reports. 24 reports were quarter size (1") or larger.
- Does a report here mean hail hit my street?
- Not necessarily. Each report is one observation tied to a nearby landmark, and a county can be large. Storms also go unreported where few people live. Use the date check above to see what was reported nearby, and treat it as a starting point.
- How big is a 1.75" hailstone?
- Forecasters describe hail by everyday objects: 1" is a quarter, 1.75" a golf ball, 2.75" a baseball. The sizes in these reports are estimates made by the person reporting, not lab measurements.
- Where do I get the official record?
- All reports here come from the NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, which you can search directly. For anything formal, use NOAA’s own records rather than this page.
Look up another place
About these numbers
Every row above is a report filed with the National Weather Service and archived in the NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (FIPS 19047). Reports are eyewitness, trained-spotter and damage-survey observations, so they cluster near roads and towns and miss storms over empty country. Hail sizes are estimates. Damage figures are preliminary as filed and are never revised in this archive. Use this page for background, not for an insurance claim, a legal filing, or a roof assessment — for those, get the official record from NOAA directly.