Lyon County, KS hail & severe wind history
303 storm reports on file for Lyon County between 2010-04-05 and 2026-06-13 — 172 hail and 131 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 17.8 reports a year, and May is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: May 31, 2026 — 1.75" (golf ball), 3.51 mi SW of Olpe.
- Hail was reported on 66 days since 2010 — about 3.9 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 4" (grapefruit) on Dec 15, 2021.
- Lyon County has more hail reports than 83% of the 105 Kansas counties we cover.
Search every Lyon 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 Lyon County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Lyon County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-09-17 | 12 | 2" (hen egg) | 75 mph |
| 2021-12-15 | 11 | 4" (grapefruit) | 81 mph |
| 2011-04-03 | 11 | 2.75" (baseball) | 81 mph |
| 2014-05-10 | 11 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | — |
| 2012-03-28 | 10 | 2" (hen egg) | — |
| 2016-08-24 | 10 | 1.5" (ping pong ball) | 81 mph |
| 2018-05-14 | 7 | 2" (hen egg) | — |
| 2017-05-27 | 7 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 70 mph |
| 2011-05-21 | 7 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2010-04-06 | 7 | 1" (quarter) | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-13 | 2" hen egg | 1.08 mi W of Reading | No narrative filed |
| 2025-03-27 | 2" hen egg | .69 mi N of Allen | Pictures of hail up to slightly bigger than golfball size sent by Slack. |
| 2022-09-17 | 2" hen egg | 7.01 mi NNE of Plymouth | Hen egg sized hail reported. |
| 2021-12-15 | 4" grapefruit | 4.68 mi SSE of Plymouth | Softball sized hail reported at mile marker 137 on I-35. |
| 2021-12-15 | 2.5" tennis ball | 3.32 mi ENE of Emporia | Tennis ball sized hail reported at I-35 and R1 east of Emporia. |
| 2021-12-15 | 2" hen egg | 2.17 mi E of Emporia | Apricot sized hail reported. |
| 2020-05-04 | 2.75" baseball | 2.82 mi N of Neosho Rapids | Location experienced about 12 minutes of golf ball to baseball sized hail. |
| 2018-05-14 | 2" hen egg | .54 mi W of Reading | Delayed report via KVOE radio. |
When does hail hit Lyon County?
Across 17 years of records, May produced the most reports (93), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 0 | 0.0% |
| March | 24 | 7.9% |
| April | 42 | 13.9% |
| May | 93 | 30.7% |
| June | 37 | 12.2% |
| July | 19 | 6.3% |
| August | 41 | 13.5% |
| September | 34 | 11.2% |
| October | 2 | 0.7% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 11 | 3.6% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Lyon County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Osage County, KS | 286 | 3" |
| Greenwood County, KS | 208 | 4.25" |
| Wabaunsee County, KS | 183 | 4.5" |
| Coffey County, KS | 176 | 4" |
| Morris County, KS | 138 | 3" |
| Chase County, KS | 110 | 4" |
Common questions about hail in Lyon County
- How often does it hail in Lyon County?
- Hail was reported on 66 separate days between 2010 and 2026, about 3.9 days a year, with May the busiest month for storm reports. 144 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 20111). 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.