Dallas County Hail Season by the Numbers: What the NOAA Record Shows

Ask anyone who has owned a home in Dallas for a few years and you will hear about hail: cracked windshields at NorthPark, a roof replaced twice in five years, a golf course in Las Colinas chewed up the night before a tournament round. North Texas sits in the southern Plains hail belt, and Dallas County gets its share. But when exactly is Dallas hail season, how large does the hail get, and what does any of it mean for an insurance claim?

To answer that with something better than memory, we went to the official record: the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Storm Events Database, which logs severe weather reports county by county. Below is what roughly seventy years of Dallas County hail data shows, where the data falls short, and how to use it if your roof is on the line.

Dallas hail season by month

The table groups every Dallas County hail report in the NCEI database by month. These are individual reports, not storm days. A single storm crossing the county can produce a dozen reports, so the numbers show when hail tends to cluster rather than how many separate storms occurred.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, Dallas County, Texas (county and forecast zone entries), downloaded October 2026. Percentages are rounded.

Two things stand out. First, the Dallas season is long. Hail ramps up in March, peaks in April, stays heavy in May, and June is still busier than March. Compared with places farther south, North Texas keeps producing big spring storms deeper into early summer. Second, there is a distinct fall bump. October has more reports than July, August, and November, and nearly twice as many as September. Cold fronts pushing into warm, humid air can still build hail-producing storms well after spring is over.

For planning purposes, the highest-risk stretch runs from mid-March through June, with a second, smaller window in October. Those are the months to have your policy, your deductible, and a set of baseline photos ready.

How big does hail get in Dallas County?

Size matters for roofs, skylights, and vehicles, and the Dallas record has plenty of large stones. Of the 841 reports, 606 were at least 1 inch (quarter size), which is the National Weather Service threshold for severe hail. 250 were 1.75 inches (golf ball) or larger, and 46 reached 2.75 inches (baseball) or more. Big hail is more likely to be noticed and reported than small hail, so the share is probably a little inflated. Still, when hail falls here, it is often large enough to cause real damage.

The largest hail reports on record

Note the two February 2000 entries. Giant hail in late winter is unusual, but it is in the record, and it hit two of the most built-up parts of the county.

The storms Dallas still talks about

May 24, 2011: grapefruit hail in Irving

On May 24, 2011, hail up to the size of grapefruits fell around Irving for several minutes. NOAA's narrative describes windows broken or smashed out and serious damage at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas, where the Byron Nelson Championship was being played; crews repaired more than 4,000 divots before play resumed. The same afternoon brought baseball-size hail at Skillman Street and Southwestern Boulevard in Dallas, and golf ball hail at Highway 183 and Mockingbird Lane that damaged eight Southwest planes at Love Field.

June 13, 2012: Lakewood and NorthPark

About a year later, a storm on June 13, 2012, left one of the most detailed damage descriptions in the county record. NOAA reports that hail up to baseball size caused considerable damage in the Lakewood area of Dallas, leaving holes in some roofs, smashing house and car windows, and shredding trees. The tower at the Lakewood Theater was damaged, and the hail reportedly lasted for nearly 30 minutes. Across town, baseball hail broke skylights at NorthPark Center. The same storm system produced orange-size hail in Grand Prairie and baseball hail on Esters Road in Irving.

Lakewood is a good illustration of local risk. Many homes there are older, some sit on pier-and-beam foundations, and a lot of them have composition shingle roofs, wood trim, and older single-pane windows. Thirty minutes of large hail tests every one of those materials.

April 3, 2012 and June 12, 2023

The April 3, 2012 outbreak produced 17 Dallas County reports in one day, including tornadoes and hail up to 3 inches in Coppell. On June 12, 2023, storms on the southwest side dropped hail up to 4 inches near Cedar Hill and baseball hail near Cedar Hill State Park, kicking off a run of June storms that helped make 2023 one of the busiest years on record.

Recent fall storms

On September 24, 2023, storms along a front produced 14 hail reports in a single evening, mostly across Richardson and northern Garland, with hail up to 2.25 inches. Older October storms are just as notable: on October 2, 1993, hail broke forty windows at Parkland Hospital, and on October 21, 1994, a line of storms dropped hail up to 2.75 inches near Seagoville along with several brief tornado touchdowns.

Hail reports by year since 2013

The swings are large. 2016 had five reports; 2023 had 51. The all-time busiest years are 2012 (53) and 2011 (52), followed by 2023. One quiet spring tells you very little about the next one, and the last several years have been consistently active.

What the data cannot tell you

The NCEI database is the best long-term public record of hail in Dallas County, but it is not a census of every hailstorm. Keep these limits in mind:

• Reports depend on people. Hail gets logged when a spotter, official, or member of the public reports it to the National Weather Service. A storm at 2 a.m. may hit hundreds of homes and produce only one report.
• Reporting has changed. Smartphone apps such as mPING and social media photos now account for many reports. Older decades look quieter partly because fewer people were reporting.
• Location names can mislead. NCEI uses reference points such as "Gribble" or "Bouchard" for the location field. The event narrative usually names the actual city or intersection.
• Sizes are often estimated. Many reports compare stones to coins or balls rather than measuring them.

Even with those caveats, the seasonal pattern is consistent year after year, and it matches what roofers and adjusters see across North Texas.

What hail season means for your insurance claim

Several storms, one roof

Because hail clusters so tightly between March and June, the same roof can be hit more than once in a season, or several times over a few years. Insurers may then ask which storm caused which damage, or argue that the damage predates the policy. Dated photos, prior repair invoices, and a prompt claim help answer those questions. Our guide to documenting hail damage for an insurance claim walks through what to capture.

Your deductible matters more in a busy year

Many Texas policies carry a separate wind/hail deductible, often 1% or 2% of the dwelling (Coverage A) limit. Dallas County is outside the TWIA coastal area, so Dallas homes usually get wind and hail coverage from their regular insurer. Two separate storms can mean two deductibles, depending on policy wording. Check your declarations page before the season starts.

Roof settlement terms

Some Texas policies pay roofs at actual cash value or under an age-based roof payment schedule, and some metal-roof coverage excludes cosmetic damage. In a county with Dallas County's hail record, those terms can affect your outcome as much as the storm itself. Our article on replacement cost vs. actual cash value in Texas explains the difference.

What size hail damages a roof?

There is no single cutoff. Damage depends on the roofing material, its age, wind speed and direction during the storm, and the density of the stones. Composition shingles on Dallas brick-veneer homes can bruise or crack at sizes that leave a newer roof untouched. Low-slope TPO and modified-bitumen roofs on apartments and warehouses respond differently again. A slope-by-slope inspection is the only reliable answer; see hail damage roof insurance claims for what inspectors look for.

What to do after a hailstorm in Dallas

1. Stay safe. Do not climb onto a wet or damaged roof. Start from the ground, windows, and a second-story vantage point.
2. Photograph the hail beside a ruler or coin and note the time.
3. Check soft metals and exterior items: gutters, downspouts, roof vents, AC fins, window screens, wood fences, and vehicles.
4. Look inside for new ceiling stains, especially after the next rain.
5. Prevent further damage with tarps or temporary repairs, and keep every receipt.
6. Save the storm record with our storm lookup or the full Dallas County storm history.
7. Report the claim promptly and keep a log of calls, emails, and inspection dates. Our claim documentation checklist can help.

How a public adjuster can help during hail season

After a big spring storm, insurers can face a surge of claims, and inspections are sometimes quick. A licensed Texas public adjuster represents the policyholder, not the insurance company. Dallas Public Adjuster, a service of Rise Public Adjusting LLC, helps homeowners and business owners with Dallas hail damage claims by inspecting and documenting the damage, matching it to the storm record, preparing a detailed estimate, and presenting the claim to the insurer.

Fees are disclosed in a written contract before any work begins; Texas law caps public adjuster compensation at 10% of the insurance settlement. Every claim depends on the policy and the facts of the loss, and no outcome is guaranteed. If you are not sure whether a recent storm damaged your property, a Dallas Public Adjuster review is a reasonable first step before you decide what to do.

This article is general information about property insurance claims in Texas, not legal advice, and not a promise of any coverage or outcome. Your policy language and the facts of your loss control your claim.