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Decatur County, KS hail & severe wind history
222 storm reports on file for Decatur County between 2010-05-06 and 2026-05-16 — 129 hail and 93 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 13.1 reports a year, and Jun is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Sep 19, 2025 — 1.75" (golf ball), 0.53 mi W of Jennings.
- Hail was reported on 60 days since 2010 — about 3.5 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 2.75" (baseball) on Sep 21, 2023.
- Decatur County has more hail reports than 51% of the 105 Kansas counties we cover.
Search every Decatur 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 Decatur County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Decatur County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-08-09 | 9 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2022-06-07 | 8 | 2.75" (baseball) | 69 mph |
| 2024-06-07 | 8 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | — |
| 2014-06-14 | 7 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 92 mph |
| 2025-06-19 | 6 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 60 mph |
| 2021-05-26 | 6 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2011-07-02 | 6 | — | 87 mph |
| 2025-06-16 | 5 | — | 70 mph |
| 2010-06-22 | 4 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2023-08-05 | 4 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 60 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-06-07 | 2.5" tennis ball | .32 mi NNW of Dresden | Multiple reports from the town of Dresden of hail ranging in size from golf ball to tennis ball with hail accumulating on the ground over a duration of 25 minutes. |
| 2024-06-07 | 2" hen egg | 2.91 mi WNW of Norcatur | No narrative filed |
| 2024-06-07 | 2.5" tennis ball | 1.9 mi N of Norcatur | Lime to tennis ball sized hail occurred at the location over a duration of five minutes. Damage included a broken windshield on a suburban, all west and north facing window screens broken on the house, in addition to several holes in cement siding of house. Over an hour after the storm passed hail was melted to quarte… |
| 2024-06-07 | 2.25" hen egg | 4.69 mi NE of Oberlin Muni Arpt | Hail that was 2.25 inches in diameter fell over a duration of four minutes. |
| 2023-09-21 | 2.75" baseball | 4.62 mi NW of Lyle | Report via social media of baseball sized hail. |
| 2023-05-07 | 2" hen egg | 5.52 mi WNW of Leoville | Reported via social media. |
| 2022-06-07 | 2.75" baseball | .48 mi S of Oberlin Muni Arpt | Hail ranging in size from half dollar to baseball in size damaged gutters and also broke numerous windshields and windows in homes around the city of Oberlin. There were also reports of large tree limbs down and damage to siding in the city. |
| 2022-06-07 | 2.5" tennis ball | 1.88 mi NNW of Jennings | Accumulating hail up to the size of tennis balls was reported for a duration of five minutes. |
When does hail hit Decatur County?
Across 17 years of records, June produced the most reports (72), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 0 | 0.0% |
| March | 3 | 1.4% |
| April | 10 | 4.5% |
| May | 49 | 22.1% |
| June | 72 | 32.4% |
| July | 36 | 16.2% |
| August | 29 | 13.1% |
| September | 18 | 8.1% |
| October | 5 | 2.3% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 0 | 0.0% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Decatur County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas County, KS | 447 | 4.25" |
| Rawlins County, KS | 367 | 4" |
| Norton County, KS | 288 | 3" |
| Furnas County, NE | 280 | 3" |
| Sheridan County, KS | 279 | 4.25" |
| Red Willow County, NE | 275 | 4" |
Common questions about hail in Decatur County
- How often does it hail in Decatur County?
- Hail was reported on 60 separate days between 2010 and 2026, about 3.5 days a year, with June the busiest month for storm reports. 95 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 20039). 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.