226
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$2.8B
Property damage
Hail in Maricopa County, Arizona: 226 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 3. That places the county #511 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Maricopa County, Arizona: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Maricopa County is the 2020s, when 68 of the county's 226 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Maricopa County archive, hail makes up 8.2% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #511 for this hazard and #1 within Arizona, putting it in the 83.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Sep is the peak month for hail in Maricopa County with 69 recorded events, while Apr is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 1988 | 1 | 0 | 3 | $0 | |
| Oct 5, 2010 | WEST CHANDLER | 3 | 0 | 1 | $1.8B |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 20, 2025 | TEMPE | 0.88 | $0 |
| Nov 20, 2025 | HELENA | 1 | $0 |
| Nov 20, 2025 | TEMPE | 0.75 | $0 |
| Nov 20, 2025 | WEST CHANDLER | 1.75 | $3K |
| Nov 20, 2025 | WEST END | 0.25 | $20K |
| Nov 18, 2025 | WITTMANN | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 13, 2025 | PAPAGO AAF ARPT | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 12, 2025 | NEW RIVER | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 12, 2025 | NEW RIVER | 1.5 | $0 |
| Sep 26, 2025 | VELDA ROSE ESTATES | 0.75 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Maricopa County
- Thunderstorm Wind 1,519
- Flash Flood 580
- Heavy Rain 144
- Flood 81
- Tornado 73
- Lightning 62
- Funnel Cloud 58
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This storm moved from Firebird Lake, south of Chandler to the north Glendale/south Peoria area. This storm produced widespread golf ball to baseball sized hail along its path. Thousands of roofs and vehicles were damaged by the hail. Locations in northwest Phoenix and Glendale were impacted by this storm as well as the storm shortly after noon, compounding the damage. The football coach at Alhambra High School reported at least one injury when large hail struck the practice field. This palm-size hail is likely the largest hail ever reported in the Phoenix area.|Large hail, estimated to be upwards of 2 inches in diameter, punctured 34 skylights at the main warehouse of St. Mary's Food bank in Phoenix. As a result, water ruined approximately 20 percent of the food inventory, the equivalent of 1.4 million meals. Rain soaked the food, which was stored in cardboard boxes. This information was reported by St. Mary's spokesman Jerry Brown. The damages of 200 thousand dollars covered both the roof damage as well as money to replace the ruined food.
Hailstorm moved from southwest to northeast across the central Phoenix area. Hail up to 1.5 diameter fell in this swath. The hail broke hundreds of skylights and damaged roofs and cars from southwest Phoenix, to north central Phoenix, to Carefree.
This storm moved from south of Chandler to far north Scottsdale. As the storm moved through Scottsdale, the storm dropped up to tennis ball sized hail. The hail damaged hundreds of roofs and vehicles. Dozens of aircraft at Scottsdale airport were damaged by the hail.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Maricopa County, Arizona?
226 hail events are recorded in Maricopa County between 1960 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Maricopa County?
The strongest hail on record in Maricopa County measured 3.
Where does the hail data for Maricopa County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Hail in Maricopa County, Arizona.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arizona/maricopa-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.