National Storms

July 1986 storm reports: hail, wind and tornadoes

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In July 1986, 386 hail, 1,269 damaging-wind and 88 tornado reports were logged on 31 storm days across 41 states. The largest hail reported was 6.00″ (softball size) in Nobles County, MN on July 28, 1986. The most hail reports came on July 18, 1986 (40). Tornadoes killed 3.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Data through November 6, 2026. Methodology

← June 1986 All 1986 storm days August 1986 →

386hail reports
1,269wind reports
88tornado reports
6.00″largest hail
31storm days
Jul 1: 3Jul 2: 2Jul 3: 9Jul 4: 6Jul 5: 3Jul 6: 2Jul 7: 1Jul 8: 8Jul 9: 9Jul 10: 11Jul 11: 15Jul 12: 19Jul 13: 22Jul 14: 9Jul 15: 3Jul 16: 7Jul 17: 8Jul 18: 40Jul 19: 9Jul 20: 15Jul 21: 5Jul 22: 0Jul 23: 1Jul 24: 12Jul 25: 22Jul 26: 13Jul 27: 15Jul 28: 28Jul 29: 38Jul 30: 13Jul 31: 38Jul 1Jul 4Jul 7Jul 10Jul 13Jul 16Jul 19Jul 22Jul 25Jul 28Jul 31max 40
Hail reports by day, July 1986

Source: National Storms (nationalstorms.com), CC BY 4.0, data from NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports.

Biggest storm days of July 1986

DayHailWindTornadoLargest hailStates
Jul 28, 198628110136.00″13
Jul 20, 1986159601.75″16
Jul 18, 1986404652.90″8
Jul 31, 1986385123.00″14
Jul 25, 1986226532.75″16
Jul 12, 1986195771.75″14
Jul 29, 1986384144.50″11
Jul 11, 1986155783.00″17
Jul 21, 198657021.75″12
Jul 26, 1986135641.75″17

Largest hail reported in July 1986

DaySizeLocation
Jul 28, 19866.00″ (softball)Nobles County, MN
Jul 28, 19864.50″ (softball)Brookings County, SD
Jul 28, 19864.50″ (softball)Murray County, MN
Jul 28, 19864.50″ (softball)Lincoln County, MN
Jul 28, 19864.50″ (softball)Pipestone County, MN
Jul 29, 19864.50″ (softball)Morton County, ND
Jul 28, 19864.00″ (grapefruit)Buffalo County, SD
Jul 29, 19864.00″ (grapefruit)Burleigh County, ND
Jul 29, 19863.80″ (teacup)Antelope County, NE
Jul 11, 19863.00″ (teacup)Trego County, KS

Storm reports by state, July 1986

StateHailWindTornadoLargest hail
North Carolina1612431.75″
Iowa319782.75″
Nebraska3445123.80″
Pennsylvania88111.75″
South Dakota4132124.50″
Illinois127011.75″
Georgia77411.75″
Alabama126112.75″
Wisconsin125371.75″
Minnesota175046.00″
Indiana76021.75″
North Dakota3720124.50″
Kansas322613.00″
Oklahoma292601.75″
Missouri34801.00″
Ohio64222.00″
Michigan73151.75″
New York63431.75″
South Carolina43610.75″
Virginia0350–
Arkansas62701.75″
Kentucky32720.88″
Tennessee23001.75″
West Virginia42501.75″
Texas32232.75″
Colorado15813.00″
Wyoming21411.75″
Maryland21400.75″
Mississippi21311.75″
Arizona51001.50″
Florida21121.00″
Utah4701.75″
Maine7301.50″
Montana4202.00″
Louisiana1301.00″
New Jersey2201.75″
New Mexico1110.75″
Idaho020–
Massachusetts020–
California001–
Delaware010–

Every storm day in July 1986

Jul 1 Jul 2 Jul 3 Jul 4 Jul 5 Jul 6 Jul 7 Jul 8 Jul 9 Jul 10 Jul 11 Jul 12 Jul 13 Jul 14 Jul 15 Jul 16 Jul 17 Jul 18 Jul 19 Jul 20 Jul 21 Jul 22 Jul 23 Jul 24 Jul 25 Jul 26 Jul 27 Jul 28 Jul 29 Jul 30 Jul 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.