Rooks County, KS hail & severe wind history
209 storm reports on file for Rooks County between 2010-04-01 and 2025-08-18 — 134 hail and 75 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 13.1 reports a year, and Jun is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Aug 18, 2025 — 1.5" (ping pong ball), 3.29 mi ESE of Codell.
- Hail was reported on 63 days since 2010 — about 3.9 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 4.25" (grapefruit) on Aug 9, 2011.
- Rooks County has more hail reports than 55% of the 105 Kansas counties we cover.
Search every Rooks 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 Rooks County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Rooks County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-06-19 | 9 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 60 mph |
| 2023-06-30 | 7 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | 70 mph |
| 2011-08-09 | 6 | 4.25" (grapefruit) | — |
| 2011-06-01 | 6 | 2" (hen egg) | 60 mph |
| 2012-05-27 | 6 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2023-08-05 | 6 | — | 81 mph |
| 2022-06-05 | 5 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2020-06-27 | 5 | — | 68 mph |
| 2019-08-29 | 5 | — | 81 mph |
| 2010-06-13 | 4 | 2" (hen egg) | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-30 | 2.5" tennis ball | 9.01 mi SSE of Woodston | Rooks County Emergency Manager relayed information he saw on a Facebook post of hail over two inches in diameter south of Woodston. |
| 2020-06-20 | 3" teacup | 6 mi SSW of Plainville | Hail ranging in size from ping pong balls to 3 inches in diameter was reported along this path. |
| 2019-05-28 | 3" teacup | 3 mi E of Codell | The hailstone 3 inches in diameter was by far the exception, the majority of the hail ranged from pea to quarter size. |
| 2019-05-27 | 2.5" tennis ball | .87 mi NW of Zurich | No narrative filed |
| 2011-08-09 | 2" hen egg | 4 mi NW of Stockton | Large hail resulted in tree damage, dented aluminum siding, and a couple broken windshields. |
| 2011-08-09 | 2.5" tennis ball | 0 mi N of Damar | Hail up to the size of tennis balls nearly covered the ground. |
| 2011-08-09 | 2.5" tennis ball | 0 mi N of Palco | Large hail resulted in broken windshields. |
| 2011-08-09 | 2.75" baseball | 3 mi NW of Zurich | No narrative filed |
When does hail hit Rooks County?
Across 16 years of records, June produced the most reports (66), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 0 | 0.0% |
| March | 4 | 1.9% |
| April | 22 | 10.5% |
| May | 46 | 22.0% |
| June | 66 | 31.6% |
| July | 19 | 9.1% |
| August | 36 | 17.2% |
| September | 12 | 5.7% |
| October | 3 | 1.4% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 1 | 0.5% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Rooks County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Ellis County, KS | 404 | 4" |
| Phillips County, KS | 242 | 4.25" |
| Graham County, KS | 239 | 2.75" |
| Trego County, KS | 215 | 4.25" |
| Osborne County, KS | 193 | 3" |
| Smith County, KS | 148 | 2.75" |
Common questions about hail in Rooks County
- How often does it hail in Rooks County?
- Hail was reported on 63 separate days between 2010 and 2025, about 3.9 days a year, with June the busiest month for storm reports. 101 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 20163). 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.