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Howell County, MO hail & severe wind history
279 storm reports on file for Howell County between 2010-03-10 and 2026-04-28 — 121 hail and 158 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 16.4 reports a year, and Apr is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Apr 28, 2026 — 1.75" (golf ball), 0.55 mi E of Olden.
- Hail was reported on 54 days since 2010 — about 3.2 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 2.75" (baseball) on Apr 15, 2022.
- Howell County has more hail reports than 87% of the 115 Missouri counties we cover.
Search every Howell 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 Howell County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Howell County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05-16 | 10 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | 68 mph |
| 2026-04-28 | 10 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 60 mph |
| 2026-04-27 | 9 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | — |
| 2011-04-19 | 7 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2017-04-26 | 7 | 1" (quarter) | 81 mph |
| 2025-04-02 | 5 | 2.5" (tennis ball) | — |
| 2018-04-03 | 5 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2018-05-19 | 5 | 1.25" (half dollar) | — |
| 2019-10-21 | 5 | 1" (quarter) | 60 mph |
| 2012-02-29 | 5 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-27 | 2" hen egg | 5.38 mi W of Olden | Hen egg sized hail was reported in a mainly rural area. Minor damage occurred to a few vehicles, a home and some outbuildings. |
| 2026-04-27 | 2.5" tennis ball | 1.3 mi ESE of Willow Spgs | Hail to the size of tennis balls was reported east of the municipal airport. The main impacts of the hail occurred east of town in a more rural area. Some damage was reported at the airports and to some structures to the east in clouding some vehicles. |
| 2026-04-27 | 2.5" tennis ball | 2.16 mi SE of Olden | Hail to the size of tennis balls was reported in a mainly rural area. |
| 2026-04-27 | 2" hen egg | 0 mi N of West Plains | Hen egg sized hail was reported with minor damage to roofs of homes and businesses, vehicles, equipment and outbuildings. |
| 2025-05-16 | 2.5" tennis ball | .69 mi S of Willow Spgs | Report of tennis ball size hail. |
| 2025-05-16 | 2.5" tennis ball | 2.35 mi NNE of Mountain View | Report of tennis ball size hail. |
| 2025-04-02 | 2.5" tennis ball | .88 mi SE of Olden | Hail up to the size of tennis balls was reported just south of Pomona in a fairly rural part of Howell County. A few homes and businesses saw minor damage occur to roofs and vehicles. |
| 2025-04-02 | 2" hen egg | 5.11 mi SSW of West Plains | Hen egg sized hail was reported in a mainly rural portion of the county. Some homes around the Arrowhead Lakes suffered minor roof and vehicle damage from the large hail. |
When does hail hit Howell County?
Across 17 years of records, April produced the most reports (73), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 4 | 1.4% |
| February | 5 | 1.8% |
| March | 29 | 10.4% |
| April | 73 | 26.2% |
| May | 70 | 25.1% |
| June | 26 | 9.3% |
| July | 34 | 12.2% |
| August | 14 | 5.0% |
| September | 4 | 1.4% |
| October | 10 | 3.6% |
| November | 3 | 1.1% |
| December | 7 | 2.5% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Howell County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Douglas County, MO | 295 | 4" |
| Texas County, MO | 169 | 4.5" |
| Ozark County, MO | 161 | 4.5" |
| Shannon County, MO | 115 | 2.5" |
| Oregon County, MO | 81 | 2" |
See all 115 Missouri counties →
Common questions about hail in Howell County
- How often does it hail in Howell County?
- Hail was reported on 54 separate days between 2010 and 2026, about 3.2 days a year, with April the busiest month for storm reports. 97 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 29091). 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.