Hail in Polk County, Minnesota

Hail in Polk County, Minnesota: 423 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 3.5. That places the county #146 nationally and #5 statewide for this hazard.

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

The busiest decade for hail in Polk County is the 2000s, when 168 of the county's 423 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 46.3% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #146 for this hazard and #5 within Minnesota, putting it in the 95.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jun is the peak month for hail in Polk County with 109 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 318
• Tornado 82

How many hail events are on record in Polk County, Minnesota?

423 hail events are recorded in Polk County between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Polk County?

The strongest hail on record in Polk County measured 3.5.

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.