South Texas Hail Storms
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.7 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($1.4 billion at the time).
What the offices filed during it
The 74 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $1.7 billion
- Losses at the time
- $1.4 billion
- Deaths
- 0
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 12 | 0 | 0 | $5.1 million |
| Texas | 180 | 1 | 0 | $1.8 million |
| Michigan | 7 | 0 | 0 | $375,000 |
| Iowa | 19 | 0 | 0 | $132,000 |
| Wisconsin | 17 | 0 | 0 | $97,000 |
| Florida | 13 | 2 | 2 | $40,000 |
| Illinois | 22 | 0 | 0 | $25,000 |
| New York | 2 | 0 | 0 | $25,000 |
| New Hampshire | 2 | 0 | 0 | $25,000 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | 0 | 0 | $20,000 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 0 | 0 | $19,000 |
| Missouri | 25 | 0 | 0 | $17,000 |
| West Virginia | 4 | 0 | 0 | $16,000 |
| Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| Louisiana | 15 | 0 | 0 | $7,000 |
| Arkansas | 8 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 |
| South Carolina | 17 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| Alabama | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ohio | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kansas | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Mexico | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mississippi | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maine | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Hail in New Mexico, May 25, 2020A strong back door cold front pushed southwest through eastern New Mexico and into the Rio Grande Valley during the morning of May 25, 2020.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 25 to 26, 2020A couple of supercells and isolated to thunderstorms developed in Starr County in advance of a late season cold front bringing hail to the area.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, May 25 to 27, 2020An upper level low pressure system became cut off over the Southern Plains leading to multiple rounds of storms from the latter half of Memorial Day Weekend into much of the following work week.
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 25, 2020On the early morning of the 25th, a storm complex that developed over eastern Oklahoma drifted into southwest Missouri and produced scattered strong to severe afternoon storms.
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 25, 2020Converging convective boundaries combined with a late season cold front allowed a strong thunderstorm to rapidly develop and move into Zapata County just after midnight on May 26th. This thunderstorm produced strong straight-line winds resulting in widespread damage.
- Hail in Texas, May 26, 2020An upper level shortwave trough rotated around a slow moving upper low across the Southern Plains and helped to drive isolated convection along a sagging cold front. Some of these storms produced large hail.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 26, 2020A boundary lifting north through Iowa was the focus for convection and tornado development. Sufficient instability and enhanced shear near the boundary helped produce seven tornadoes on this day. One tornado occurred in Waukee, Iowa but produced only EF0 damage.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 26, 2020Scattered thunderstorms moved across parts of western Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening of May 26th. These storms blew down trees and power lines near Owen (Clark County) with one of the trees landing on a house.
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 26, 2020Southerly flow led to warm, moist, and unstable conditions across southern WI. Scattered thunderstorms developed with a few of those producing damaging downburst winds.
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 26, 2020A moist southerly flow and plenty of heating allowed for MUCAPE around 2000 J/KG (locally higher) to become available for scattered thunderstorm development.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 26, 2020During the afternoon of the 26th, northwestern Ohio was located in the warm sector between a surface high centered near Chesapeake Bay and a surface low moving from northern Minnesota to southwestern Ontario.
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 26, 2020A few downbursts occurred during the late afternon and early evening hours which brought pockets of isolated wind damage including downed trees and power lines.
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 26, 2020A moist southerly flow and plenty of heating allowed for MUCAPE around 2000 J/KG (locally higher) to become available for scattered thunderstorm development.
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, May 26, 2020The busy weather week continued May 26th, as more fast moving storms moved north over the Midwest. These storms brought heavy rain and damaging winds to portions of Iowa and Illinois.
- Hail in Texas, May 26, 2020A series of disturbances moving across the area generated some hail.
- Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 26, 2020The afternoon of Tuesday, May 26th, a surface low was noted in southwest Iowa with a broad area of southeast flow along a surface boundary northward across southern Minnesota and into Wisconsin.
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 26, 2020Scattered thunderstorms moved across northwest Illinois producing localized wind damage.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, May 26, 2020The afternoon of Tuesday, May 26th, a surface low was noted in southwest Iowa with a broad area of southeast flow along a surface boundary northward across southern Minnesota.
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, May 26, 2020Scattered thunderstorms moved across parts of northeast Iowa during the late afternoon of May 26th. These storms blew down a metal machine shed just south of Decorah (Winneshiek County) and a mesonet station northwest of Frankville (Winneshiek County) measured a 63 mph wind gust.
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, May 26, 2020Scattered thunderstorms moved across portions of southeast Minnesota during the afternoon and evening of May 26th. A tree was blown down east of Grand Meadow (Mower County) on State Highway 16 in front of a vehicle and the driver was unable to avoid hitting the tree.
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 26, 2020The busy weather week continued May 26th, as more fast moving storms moved north over the Midwest. These storms brought heavy rain and damaging winds to portions of Iowa and Illinois.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, May 26 to 28, 2020A slow moving upper level low produced multiple days of thunderstorms across the region. Some of the storms became severe.
- Hail in Texas, May 26, 2020A slow moving upper low pressure system over Southern Oklahoma and Northeast Texas drifted east along the Red River Valley during the afternoon and evening hours of May 26th.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, May 26, 2020A slow moving upper low pressure system over Southern Oklahoma and Northeast Texas drifted east along the Red River Valley during the afternoon and evening hours of May 26th.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Arkansas, May 27, 2020Up to five inches of rain was measured at Tuckerman (Jackson County) to begin the 27th. Three to four inch amounts were tallied near Jacksonport (Jackson County) between 500 am and 700 am CST.
- Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, May 27, 2020Thunderstorms increased in coverage and intensity across eastern Oklahoma on the 27th, as an upper level disturbance moved slowly through the region.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 27 to 28, 2020The region was embedded in northwest flow aloft as an upper level disturbance moved across the state. This disturbance aided in severe storm development across Central Texas that produced 1-2 inch hail.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 27, 2020A very moist an unstable airmass combined with daytime heating and a weak upper level disturbance to produce widespread thunderstorms, some of which became severe with damaging winds and large hail.
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Texas, May 27 to 28, 2020A cut off upper low slowly moved across Texas and produce multiple days of stormy weather. One lightning fatality occurred and wind damage.
- Hail in Mississippi, May 27, 2020A very moist an unstable airmass combined with daytime heating and a weak upper level disturbance to produce widespread thunderstorms, some of which became severe with damaging winds and large hail.
- Damaging Winds in New York, May 27, 2020Record May Heat produced the instability and the mountains of the Adirondacks produced the lift to develop thunderstorms in the afternoon that very slowly moved south to north along the mountain ridges.
- Hail in Maine, May 27, 2020An upper level disturbance crossing the region supported the development of thunderstorms across northern Maine during the afternoon of the 27th. Some of the thunderstorms produced hail.
- Damaging Wind in New Hampshire, May 27, 2020An unseasonably hot and humid day for late May was entrenched across the region. Upper level ridging was moving eastward allowing for increased instability over the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 27, 2020Severe thunderstorms developed and produce wind damage, hail and few tornadoes.
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 27, 2020A plume of high tropical moisture with PWAT over 2 inches was across the local area with fairly light WSW steering flow around 10 kts. This regime pushed the west coast sea breeze inland where it merge with the river breeze and east coast sea breeze near the St.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 27 to 28, 2020Severe thunderstorms erupted across portions of West Central Texas as an upper level disturbance interacted with an unstable airmass. These storms caused wind damage and some large hail.
- Flash Flood in Wisconsin, May 27, 2020A cold front moved through northwest Wisconsin the night of the 26-27 and dropped a widespread area of 2-3 inches of rain over parts of Sawyer County.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, May 27, 2020An area of low pressure that dumped over a foot of rain over portions of the east coast the past few days is now Tropical Storm Bertha, which made landfall along the South Carolina coast.
- Lightning Strike in Florida, May 27, 2020A 41-year-old man was killed in Pt. Saint Lucie after being struck by lightning at a construction site.
- Flash Flood in New Hampshire, May 27, 2020A warm and moist airmass for late May was in place across New Hampshire with localized thunderstorms developing over the mountainous terrain. A slow moving thunderstorm developed over Jackson, NH during the afternoon, with radar estimates of 3 to 5 of rain falling.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, May 27, 2020An upper level low and surface cold front interacted to generate thunderstorms. The airmass these features moved into was strongly unstable with steep lapse rates aloft and was conducive for storms producing large hail and damaging wind gusts.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in North Carolina, May 27 to 28, 2020The remnants of tropical storm Bertha lifted north across the North Carolina Piedmont during the afternoon and evening of the 27th.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in South Carolina, May 27, 2020Tropical Storm Bertha quickly developed over the Atlantic waters just offshore the SC coast on the morning of May 27, 2020.
- Tornado in North Carolina, May 27, 2020The remnants of Tropical Storm Bertha crossed west central North Carolina during the afternoon and evening.
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 27, 2020A narrow line of showers and thunderstorms tracked eastward across east Alabama during the afternoon hours. A mid level velocity couplet formed on a cell on the southern end of the convective line and produced localized strong winds.
- Tornado in Illinois, May 27, 2020A cutoff upper low remained over region with weak impulses rotating around it, helping to generate showers and a few severe thunderstorms through the early evening hours.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 27, 2020An upper level disturbance moved southeast out of the Hill Country during the evening hours on the 27th, around a deep upper low over the Arklatex region. A severe storm moved southeast into Bee County late in the evening.
- Lightning Strikes and Heavy Rain in Florida, May 28, 2020A diffuse surface trough axis was north of the Altamaha River basin with very high dew pts in the low/mid 70s across the entire forecast area south of the boundary.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 28, 2020A cold front moved into a warm, moist airmass and generated thunderstorms some of which produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.
- Flash Flood and Heavy Rain in Wisconsin, May 28, 2020Several rounds of showers and storms moved across portions of western Wisconsin during the morning of May 28th.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in West Virginia, May 28, 2020Remnants of Tropical Storm Bertha moved across West Virginia during the early morning hours of the 28th. This surge of tropical moisture resulted in a brief window of flash flooding in Kanawha County during the predawn hours, where 1 to 2.5 inches of rain fell.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 28, 2020Small clusters of thunderstorms moved northward from Arkansas, producing heavy rain. One of the strongest storms produced large hail and isolated wind damage in the Ozark foothills.
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Iowa, May 28, 2020An upper-level system over the Ozarks lifted north and interacted with a northern stream shortwave moving across the area, amplifying forcing. High precipitable water values of nearly two inches were in place.
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, May 28, 2020The remnants of a tropical system produced heavy rain.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 28 to 29, 2020Scattered thunderstorms developed across upstate South Carolina during the morning into early afternoon in the vicinity of a surface trough. A couple of the storms produced locally damaging wind gusts and marginally large hail.
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 28, 2020A persistent band of moderate to heavy rain fell across Iowa, northeast Missouri, and northern Illinois the afternoon and early evening of May 28th. This band of rain brought some flash flooding to locations near Independence, Iowa.
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 28, 2020A deep, closed upper-level low over the middle and lower Mississippi Valley continued to sweep deep moisture into the region.
- Flash Flood in Michigan, May 28, 2020A small area of thunderstorms trained over northwest lower Michigan. This resulted in flash flooding in Traverse City.
- Hail in Texas, May 28, 2020A series of disturbances moving across the area generated a funnel cloud and some hail.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, May 28, 2020On the morning of May 28 there was some minor flash flooding, causing some roads in the area to shut down briefly.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, May 28, 2020Scattered strong to severe storms moved across Lake and Volusia counties producing minor wind damage and small hail.
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 28, 2020A few storms in the area produced some gusty winds and minor flooding on the morning of May 28.
- Flash Flood and Hail in Missouri, May 28, 2020As a cold front moved through the region, widespread showers and storms developed. Some of the storms produced damaging winds, large hail, and flash flooding.
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, May 28, 2020Multicellular to transient supercell thunderstorms produced strong to isolated damaging wind gusts over the Piedmont and Sandhills. Thunderstorms also anchored along a quasi-stationary outflow boundary over Sampson County and produced significant flooding from Clinton to Turkey.
- Hail in Florida, May 28, 2020Sea breeze Thunderstorm produced hail.
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 28, 2020A lone thunderstorm produced a strong enough updraft to produce some wind damage at the surface.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Illinois, May 28, 2020A slow-moving cold front crossing the Mississippi River triggered scattered thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening of May 28th. The storms produced 3 landspout tornadoes...one in Peoria County and two in Moultrie County.
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Illinois, May 28, 2020As a cold front moved through the region, widespread showers and storms developed. Some of the storms produced damaging winds, large hail, flash flooding and even one isolated tornado.
- Flash Flooding in Illinois, May 28, 2020A persistent band of moderate to heavy rain fell across Iowa, northeast Missouri, and northern Illinois the afternoon and early evening of May 28th. This band of rain brought some flash flooding to in northwest Illinois.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, May 28, 2020A diffuse surface trough axis was north of the Altamaha River basin with very high dew pts in the low/mid 70s across the entire forecast area south of the boundary.
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, May 28, 2020The remnants of a tropical system produced heavy rain.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in South Carolina, May 28, 2020Daytime heating, along with sufficient atmospheric moisture and instability, combined with a nearly stationary surface boundary to produce persistent strong to severe thunderstorms over Chesterfield Co SC.
- Hail in Texas, May 28, 2020An upper trough was to the east of the region, and a cold front was moving through West Texas. This front, along with the higher terrain in the area, helped to create lift. Low-level moisture was also present.
- Tornado in Oklahoma, May 28, 2020Rain showers and isolated thunderstorms developed on the back side of a deep low pressure system over Arkansas during the afternoon of the 28th. One of these thunderstorms produced a brief tornado in Osage County.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2020Tornadoes in 2020
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.