Hail, Polk
- When
- March 30, 3:15 PM EST
- Where
- Polk County, 4 mi NE of Bartow
- Measured
- 2.75 in hail
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $400,000
- Coordinates
- 27.920, -81.780
Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
Baseball sized hail was reported by the fixed base operator and security personnel at the Bartow Municipal Airport. Several trees and plants were stripped of leaves and branches from the baseball sized hail in the vicinity of the airport.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $400,000
- 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.
Baseball sized hail was reported by the fixed base operator and security personnel at the Bartow Municipal Airport. The hail was reported to have covered the ground up to a foot deep in some drifts.Wind blown hail shattered the west window of the control tower which caused a minor injury to one of the tower personnel seeking cover.Several vehicles suffered paint and glass damage from the baseball sized hail at and in the vicinity of the Bartow Municipal Airport.Several trees and plants were stripped of leaves and branches from the baseball sized hail in the vicinity of the airport.
The radar
The Tampa radar (KTBW), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:17 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornado in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Arkansas, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
- Hail in Florida, March 30, 1996
More
Every storm in Florida in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5575241.