Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996

Name: Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
Start: 1996-03-30T14:50
End: 1996-03-30T14:50
Location: Florida

March 30, 1996 · NWS TBW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Golfball sized hail produced widespread paint and glass damage to numerous vehicles in and around Lakeland. S.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.5 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.

Golfball sized hail produced widespread paint and glass damage to numerous vehicles in and around Lakeland. Many homes also received minor to moderate roof damage from the large hail.Hail accumulated to a depth of up to eight inches at several low lying areas of shopping centers, roadways and fields in and around Lakeland.Numerous reports that golfball sized hail stripped the leaves and small branches off trees and plants, mainly over southern portions of Lakeland between State Road 37 and U.S. Highway 98.

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Polk

When: March 30, 2:50 PM EST
Where: Polk County, Lakeland
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $1.5 million
Coordinates: 28.030, -81.950

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, March 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5575239.