Linn County, IA hail & severe wind history
550 storm reports on file for Linn County between 2010-04-05 and 2026-06-17 — 244 hail and 306 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 32.4 reports a year, and Jun is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Apr 17, 2026 — 1" (quarter), 2.47 mi NE of Prairieburg.
- Hail was reported on 50 days since 2010 — about 2.9 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 2.75" (baseball) on Jul 11, 2020.
- Linn County has more hail reports than 99% of the 99 Iowa counties we cover.
Search every Linn 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 Linn County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Linn County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-06-08 | 30 | 2" (hen egg) | 81 mph |
| 2020-04-07 | 29 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2023-04-04 | 23 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2015-06-22 | 22 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | 60 mph |
| 2014-06-30 | 21 | — | 100 mph |
| 2020-07-11 | 20 | 2.75" (baseball) | 81 mph |
| 2012-06-29 | 20 | — | 81 mph |
| 2023-07-28 | 18 | — | 90 mph |
| 2011-07-11 | 15 | — | 81 mph |
| 2017-06-15 | 13 | 1.25" (half dollar) | 70 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-10 | 2" hen egg | 4.18 mi N of Western | A trained spotter reported hail ranging in size from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| 2020-07-11 | 2.75" baseball | 3.77 mi SW of Fairfax | No narrative filed |
| 2020-04-07 | 2" hen egg | 1.47 mi NNW of Marion | No narrative filed |
| 2020-04-07 | 2" hen egg | 1.24 mi SE of Robins | No narrative filed |
| 2020-04-07 | 2.75" baseball | 2.05 mi E of Hiawatha | Measured by KGAN studios. |
| 2020-04-07 | 2.5" tennis ball | 1.47 mi SSW of Cedar Rapids | No narrative filed |
| 2020-04-07 | 2.5" tennis ball | .69 mi S of Marion | No narrative filed |
| 2020-04-07 | 2" hen egg | 1.03 mi W of Marion | No narrative filed |
When does hail hit Linn County?
Across 17 years of records, June produced the most reports (157), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 1 | 0.2% |
| March | 35 | 6.4% |
| April | 111 | 20.2% |
| May | 46 | 8.4% |
| June | 157 | 28.5% |
| July | 128 | 23.3% |
| August | 46 | 8.4% |
| September | 18 | 3.3% |
| October | 1 | 0.2% |
| November | 5 | 0.9% |
| December | 2 | 0.4% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Linn County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson County, IA | 295 | 2.75" |
| Benton County, IA | 265 | 2" |
| Buchanan County, IA | 226 | 3.25" |
| Jones County, IA | 189 | 3" |
| Cedar County, IA | 184 | 2.75" |
| Delaware County, IA | 140 | 1.75" |
| Iowa County, IA | 132 | 2.75" |
Common questions about hail in Linn County
- How often does it hail in Linn County?
- Hail was reported on 50 separate days between 2010 and 2026, about 2.9 days a year, with June the busiest month for storm reports. 180 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 19113). 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.