National Storms

October 1986 storm reports: hail, wind and tornadoes

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In October 1986, 52 hail, 62 damaging-wind and 25 tornado reports were logged on 20 storm days across 23 states. The largest hail reported was 4.00″ (grapefruit size) in Hale County, TX on October 1, 1986. The most hail reports came on October 1, 1986 (24).

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

← September 1986 All 1986 storm days November 1986 →

52hail reports
62wind reports
25tornado reports
4.00″largest hail
20storm days
Oct 1: 24Oct 2: 4Oct 3: 0Oct 4: 2Oct 5: 3Oct 6: 0Oct 7: 1Oct 8: 0Oct 9: 0Oct 10: 7Oct 11: 2Oct 12: 1Oct 13: 0Oct 14: 0Oct 15: 0Oct 16: 0Oct 17: 0Oct 18: 0Oct 19: 2Oct 20: 0Oct 21: 2Oct 22: 0Oct 23: 2Oct 24: 1Oct 25: 0Oct 26: 1Oct 27: 0Oct 28: 0Oct 29: 0Oct 30: 0Oct 31: 0Oct 1Oct 4Oct 7Oct 10Oct 13Oct 16Oct 19Oct 22Oct 25Oct 28Oct 31max 24
Hail reports by day, October 1986

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

Biggest storm days of October 1986

DayHailWindTornadoLargest hailStates
Oct 1, 1986241794.00″11
Oct 2, 19864671.75″5
Oct 4, 19862711.00″4
Oct 10, 19867201.50″3
Oct 3, 1986052–2
Oct 13, 1986061–2
Oct 11, 19862400.75″4
Oct 9, 1986050–2
Oct 12, 19861400.75″2
Oct 14, 1986023–1

Largest hail reported in October 1986

DaySizeLocation
Oct 1, 19864.00″ (grapefruit)Hale County, TX
Oct 1, 19862.75″ (baseball)Floyd County, TX
Oct 5, 19862.00″ (hen egg)Graham County, AZ
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Lubbock County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Hockley County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Lynn County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Lubbock County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Briscoe County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Dickens County, TX
Oct 1, 19861.75″ (golf ball)Donley County, TX

Storm reports by state, October 1986

StateHailWindTornadoLargest hail
Texas261074.00″
Oklahoma7461.75″
Arizona5402.00″
Virginia054–
Indiana5211.75″
Pennsylvania062–
New Mexico5201.00″
West Virginia032–
Kentucky040–
Maryland040–
Missouri022–
Florida021–
Ohio030–
South Carolina030–
Tennessee030–
Arkansas020–
Alabama010–
Colorado1000.75″
Georgia1000.75″
Louisiana010–
Michigan1000.75″
Mississippi010–
South Dakota1000.75″

Every storm day in October 1986

Oct 1 Oct 2 Oct 3 Oct 4 Oct 5 Oct 6 Oct 7 Oct 9 Oct 10 Oct 11 Oct 12 Oct 13 Oct 14 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 23 Oct 24 Oct 26 Oct 29

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.