256
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$26.7M
Property damage
Hail in Polk County, Florida: 256 recorded events between 1960 and 2024. The strongest on record measured 4.5. That places the county #408 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Polk County, Florida: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Polk County is the 1990s, when 93 of the county's 256 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 Polk County archive, hail makes up 29.1% of all recorded severe weather across 11 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #408 for this hazard and #4 within Florida, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for hail in Polk County with 71 recorded events, while Nov 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 1996 | BARTOW | 2.75 | 0 | 1 | $400K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 2024 | DUETTE | 1.75 | $0 |
| May 13, 2024 | LAKE ALFRED | 1.75 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2023 | MOUNTAIN LAKE STN | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2023 | LAKE HAMILTON LAKE | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2023 | LAKE ALFRED | 1.75 | $0 |
| Apr 25, 2023 | LOUGHMAN | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 24, 2023 | WEST FROSTPROOF | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 18, 2022 | CYPRESS GARDENS | 1.75 | $0 |
| May 15, 2022 | DAVENPORT | 2 | $0 |
| May 15, 2022 | DAVENPORT | 1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Polk County
- Thunderstorm Wind 351
- Tornado 165
- Lightning 42
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The public reported, through WTVT-TV (FOX) in Tampa, golfball sized hail, which caused paint damage to several vehicles near the intersection of Main Street (U.S. Highway 92) and Combee Road (State Road 659) in Lakeland.
Skywarn Spotters reported golfball to quarter sized hail from near the Hillsborough-Polk county line east to the State Road 37 (S. Florida Ave) and County Road 572 (Drane Field Dr) that caused paint damage to several vehicles in Lakeland.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Polk County, Florida?
256 hail events are recorded in Polk County between 1960 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Polk County?
The strongest hail on record in Polk County measured 4.5.
Where does the hail data for Polk 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 Polk County, Florida.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/florida/polk-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.