May 1971 storm reports: hail, wind and tornadoes
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In May 1971, 287 hail, 266 damaging-wind and 167 tornado reports were logged on 30 storm days across 37 states. The largest hail reported was 4.50″ (softball size) in Coleman County, TX on May 8, 1971. The most hail reports came on May 6, 1971 (28). Tornadoes killed 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Data through November 6, 2026. Methodology
← April 1971 All 1971 storm days June 1971 →
Source: National Storms (nationalstorms.com), CC BY 4.0, data from NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports.
Biggest storm days of May 1971
| Day | Hail | Wind | Tornado | Largest hail | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1971 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 3.00″ | 7 |
| May 8, 1971 | 27 | 25 | 13 | 4.50″ | 8 |
| May 23, 1971 | 22 | 24 | 13 | 3.50″ | 7 |
| May 6, 1971 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 4.00″ | 12 |
| May 5, 1971 | 25 | 6 | 17 | 4.00″ | 11 |
| May 10, 1971 | 28 | 9 | 8 | 3.00″ | 6 |
| May 18, 1971 | 13 | 19 | 12 | 3.00″ | 6 |
| May 24, 1971 | 7 | 19 | 10 | 2.00″ | 11 |
| May 12, 1971 | 6 | 22 | 7 | 2.25″ | 6 |
| May 21, 1971 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 4.00″ | 6 |
Largest hail reported in May 1971
| Day | Size | Location |
|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1971 | 4.50″ (softball) | Coleman County, TX |
| May 5, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Taylor County, IA |
| May 6, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Moniteau County, MO |
| May 6, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Garvin County, OK |
| May 8, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Brown County, TX |
| May 11, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Cameron County, TX |
| May 21, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Beaver County, OK |
| May 22, 1971 | 4.00″ (grapefruit) | Yuma County, CO |
| May 23, 1971 | 3.50″ (teacup) | Hill County, TX |
| May 5, 1971 | 3.00″ (teacup) | Mercer County, MO |
Storm reports by state, May 1971
| State | Hail | Wind | Tornado | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 92 | 46 | 27 | 4.50″ |
| Kansas | 42 | 25 | 18 | 3.00″ |
| Oklahoma | 24 | 32 | 14 | 4.00″ |
| Iowa | 23 | 16 | 22 | 4.00″ |
| Missouri | 18 | 15 | 7 | 4.00″ |
| Nebraska | 13 | 4 | 18 | 3.00″ |
| Kentucky | 10 | 21 | 2 | 2.75″ |
| Georgia | 7 | 17 | 4 | 2.25″ |
| Arkansas | 6 | 13 | 4 | 2.00″ |
| Florida | 6 | 7 | 9 | 2.00″ |
| Alabama | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| Mississippi | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2.50″ |
| Michigan | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1.00″ |
| Tennessee | 5 | 0 | 7 | 2.00″ |
| Indiana | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1.50″ |
| Louisiana | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1.75″ |
| Colorado | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4.00″ |
| Illinois | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3.00″ |
| Ohio | 0 | 5 | 4 | – |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 4 | 3 | – |
| Minnesota | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.50″ |
| New Mexico | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3.00″ |
| New York | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| North Carolina | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.75″ |
| Maryland | 0 | 3 | 0 | – |
| Oregon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.50″ |
| South Dakota | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| Virginia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.25″ |
| Delaware | 0 | 2 | 0 | – |
| Montana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.75″ |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| South Carolina | 0 | 1 | 1 | – |
| California | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.75″ |
| Idaho | 0 | 1 | 0 | – |
| North Dakota | 0 | 1 | 0 | – |
| Utah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.75″ |
| Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 1 | – |
Every storm day in May 1971
May 1 May 2 May 4 May 5 May 6 May 7 May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 May 12 May 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 26 May 27 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31
A storm day runs 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. Eastern (12:00–12:00 UTC), the convention the Storm Prediction Center uses. Read more about NOAA storm reports.