Hail in Des Moines County, Iowa

Hail in Des Moines County, Iowa: 122 recorded events between 1965 and 2024. The strongest on record measured 4. That places the county #1,183 nationally and #65 statewide for this hazard.

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for hail in Des Moines County is the 2000s, when 43 of the county's 122 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 Des Moines County archive, hail makes up 24.8% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,183 for this hazard and #65 within Iowa, putting it in the 61.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.

May is the peak month for hail in Des Moines County with 27 recorded events, while Jan 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.

• Thunderstorm Wind 238
• Flood 51

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

How many hail events are on record in Des Moines County, Iowa?

122 hail events are recorded in Des Moines County between 1965 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Des Moines County?

The strongest hail on record in Des Moines County measured 4.

Where does the hail data for Des Moines 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.