Southern Hail Storms
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.7 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($1.6 billion at the time).
What the offices filed during it
The 47 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
- $1.6 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
Episode by episode
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, September 21, 2023In the early afternoon hours on the 21st, a boundary began firing severe thunderstorms over southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas. These storms generally moved to the north-northeast as the boundary moved east.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, September 21, 2023During the late afternoon to evening hours on the 21st, some thunderstorms developed and moved east across the central TX Panhandle. One of these storms grew in strength and created a wind gust of 87 mph measured by a mesonet station near Fritch.
- Hail in Kansas, September 21, 2023A thunderstorm produced large hail in Lyon County during the evening of 9/21.
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, September 21, 2023A marginally severe environment characterized by low to mid-60s dewpoints and 1500-2000 J/kg of skinny SBCAPE resulted in scattered, disorganized thunderstorms across portions of eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.
- Hail in Wyoming, September 21, 2023A thunderstorm briefly became severe and produced hail to quarter size in Wright.
- Flash Flood in Illinois, September 22, 2023A slow-moving upper-level disturbance interacting with a weak area of low pressure brought widespread rain and a few thunderstorms to central Illinois during the early morning of September 22nd.
- Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, September 22, 2023An upper-level shortwave trough tracked along the northern side of a large upper-level ridge centered to the southwest across Mexico.
- Hail in Texas, September 22, 2023An upper-level shortwave trough tracked along the northern side of a large upper-level ridge centered to the southwest across Mexico.
- Hail in Wyoming, September 22, 2023Severe thunderstorms tracked across eastern Converse and much of Niobrara County during the afternoon of 9/22.
- Hail in Nebraska, September 22, 2023Severe thunderstorms moved across the Nebraska Panhandle during the afternoon and evening of 9/22.
- Tornado in Iowa, September 22, 2023Isolated showers and thunderstorms moved through the area, with one storm producing a weak tornado in Benton County, Iowa.
- Hail in Nebraska, September 23, 2023Isolated thunderstorms developed over western Deuel County during the early morning hours of September 23rd. As they tracked to the east and southeast, hail up to the size of ping pong balls was reported.
- Hail in Nebraska, September 23, 2023It was a noisy start to this Saturday morning across northern sections of South Central Nebraska (almost entirely north of the Highway 92 corridor), as a complex of strong to marginally-severe thunderstorms rumbled through from west-to-east between 6:00-9:30 a.m.
- Tornado in North Carolina, September 23, 2023Isolated severe thunderstorm associated with bands of showers and thunderstorms well north of Tropical Storm Ophelia produced a weak brief tornado in the northern part of Perquimans county in northeast North Carolina.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, September 23, 2023A cluster of cells merged into a line which began to bow out as it approached eastern Nebraska. The line of storms produced hail ranging between 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Damaging wind gusts also were associated with the line.
- Hail in Kansas, September 23, 2023Large hail up the size of hen eggs was reported from a few thunderstorms in far eastern KS during the morning of 9/23.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, September 23, 2023In the morning and afternoon hours of September 23rd, storms brought large hail and a couple damaging wind gusts to portions of Miami, Wyandotte, and Johnson County, KS.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, September 23, 2023On the morning and afternoon hours of September 23rd, storms brought large hail and damaging wind gusts to portions of western Missouri.
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in North Carolina, September 23, 2023Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall across southeastern North Carolina. Ophelia tracked north-northwest into the northern Coastal Plain of central North Carolina by midday, then into eastern Virginia by the early evening hours.
- Hail in Iowa, September 23, 2023A cluster of cells merged into a line which began to bow out as it approached eastern Nebraska. The line of storms stayed together into Iowa where it produced 1-inch hail in Little Sioux.
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, September 23, 2023Tropical Storm Ophelia tracked northward across east central North Carolina and up through central Virginia from Saturday morning, September 23rd into early Sunday morning, September 24th.
- Hail in Iowa, September 23, 2023As a strong mid-level jet streak pushed northeast ahead of an upper-level low pressure area in southwest South Dakota, isolated thunderstorms developed midday in northwest Iowa with just enough instability around 1000 J/kg MLCAPE to support large hail with early stage updrafts.
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, September 23, 2023A cold front with an associated surface low pressure system pushed into the state on the afternoon of September 23rd. Favorable instability and bulk shear present in the atmosphere allowed for strong to severe storms, which produced some sub-severe to severe hail and gusty winds.
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Oklahoma, September 23 to 24, 2023Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 23rd, along a retreating warm front that stretched across the area, and ahead of a cold front approaching from the northwest.
- Tornadoes in South Dakota, September 23, 2023As a strong mid-level jet streak pushed northeast ahead of an upper-level low pressure area in southwest South Dakota, numerous thunderstorms developed along a weak surface boundary during the mid to late afternoon hours in far eastern South Dakota.
- Tornado in Minnesota, September 23, 2023As a strong mid-level jet streak pushed northeast ahead of an upper-level low pressure area in southwest South Dakota, isolated thunderstorms developed late afternoon in southwest Minnesota.
- Tornado in Minnesota, September 23, 2023During the afternoon of September 23, 2023, a line of thunderstorms crossed the South Dakota/Minnesota border as part of a low pressure system.
- Tornado in South Dakota, September 23, 2023Weak low pressure lifting into eastern South Dakota supported widespread thunderstorm activity in the afternoon. One of the stronger storms generated a short lived tornado 4 miles east northeast of the Poinsett Colony in Deuel county.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, September 23, 2023A line of thunderstorms pushed through the region during the day. Winds measured up to 67 mph were reported with the strongest storms with widespread wind damage occurring across southwestern Missouri. Numerous trees were downed with some minor roof and vehicle damage occurring.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, September 23, 2023As a deep upper system propagated into the Central/Northern Plains, highly diffluent flow and an approaching upper jet streak aided in favorable conditions for convection along and ahead of a trailing cold front across portions of central into eastern Oklahoma.
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, September 23, 2023A west-to-east oriented instability gradient over Missouri resulted in weakening thunderstorms as they entered central Missouri. One dying thunderstorm produced sporadic tree damage in Boone County.
- Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, September 24, 2023Intense nocturnal convection early on September 24th became focused across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas within an area of strong low-level warm advection, in the vicinity of a 30+ knot southwesterly low-level jet.
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, September 24, 2023Scattered to numerous thunderstorms developed across eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd, ahead of an approaching cold front.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, September 24, 2023Intense nocturnal convection early on September 24th became focused across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas within an area of strong low-level warm advection, in the vicinity of a 30+ knot southwesterly low-level jet.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Minnesota, September 24, 2023A slow moving area of occluded low pressure lingered over the Red River Valley of the North the 24th into the 25th.
- Damaging Wind in Arkansas, September 24, 2023Intense nocturnal convection early on September 24th became focused across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas within an area of strong low-level warm advection, in the vicinity of a 30+ knot southwesterly low-level jet.
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, September 24, 2023Intense nocturnal convection early on September 24th became focused across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas within an area of strong low-level warm advection, in the vicinity of a 30+ knot southwesterly low-level jet.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 24, 2023A southward morning afternoon severe thunderstorm developed and produced wind damage and hail.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 24, 2023Severe storms developed along a front moving through the region as an upper level disturbance provided the necessary lift. Large hail up to baseball sized was reported along with several instances of wind damage.
- Damaging Wind in Florida, September 24, 2023Widespread showers and thunderstorms developing in association with a deep-layered cyclonic circulation near the Yucatan Peninsula produced isolated severe thunderstorm wind gusts at the Key West International Airport.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 24 to 25, 2023Thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it moved southward through South Central Texas. Some of these storms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts. One supercell produced giant hail that caused considerable damage from Georgetown to Austin.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 24, 2023Despite large scale subsidence behind a departing upper level short wave trough and a cooler post frontal airmass, a single isolated severe thunderstorm developed in the extreme southeastern Texas Panhandle.
- Damaging Winds in Florida, September 24, 2023A warm and moist airmass presided over South Florida, which combined with a strong mid-level shortwave moving through the region led to the development of widespread thunderstorms producing strong wind gusts.
- Flash Flood in Texas, September 25, 2023Thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall causing flash flooding near Segovia in Kimble County.
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, September 25, 2023A stalled boundary over the area caused thunderstorm development during the early morning hours. The storms trained along the boundary over Hammond, an urbanized area. The very moist environment led to efficient rainfall over that area, which caused isolated flash flooding.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 25, 2023Severe storms developed along a slowly moving frontal boundary on the afternoon of September 25, producing wind damage across the region. The area around Edna was especially hard hit with widespread wind damage and a brief tornado.
- Tornado in Wisconsin, September 25, 2023A brief tornado occurred in a corn field in rural Green county in the early evening hours on September 25th, 2023. This was the only storm to become severe and was the result of a storm merger.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2023Tornadoes in 2023
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.