May 1996 storm reports: hail, wind and tornadoes
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In May 1996, 2,230 hail, 1,656 damaging-wind and 235 tornado reports were logged on 31 storm days across 44 states. The largest hail reported was 5.50″ (softball size) in Gray County, KS on May 26, 1996. The most hail reports came on May 24, 1996 (240). Tornadoes killed 1.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Data through November 6, 2026. Methodology
← April 1996 All 1996 storm days June 1996 →
Source: National Storms (nationalstorms.com), CC BY 4.0, data from NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports.
Biggest storm days of May 1996
| Day | Hail | Wind | Tornado | Largest hail | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 1996 | 240 | 144 | 9 | 4.75″ | 20 |
| May 26, 1996 | 160 | 125 | 20 | 5.50″ | 16 |
| May 27, 1996 | 59 | 181 | 11 | 4.50″ | 14 |
| May 5, 1996 | 132 | 109 | 6 | 3.00″ | 14 |
| May 9, 1996 | 170 | 53 | 18 | 4.50″ | 15 |
| May 31, 1996 | 142 | 63 | 24 | 2.75″ | 12 |
| May 28, 1996 | 100 | 76 | 12 | 3.00″ | 15 |
| May 11, 1996 | 26 | 155 | 3 | 1.75″ | 11 |
| May 17, 1996 | 93 | 68 | 13 | 4.50″ | 10 |
| May 8, 1996 | 84 | 68 | 21 | 4.50″ | 12 |
Largest hail reported in May 1996
| Day | Size | Location |
|---|---|---|
| May 26, 1996 | 5.50″ (softball) | Gray County, KS |
| May 10, 1996 | 5.00″ (softball) | Howard County, TX |
| May 24, 1996 | 4.75″ (softball) | Randall County, TX |
| May 24, 1996 | 4.75″ (softball) | Randall County, TX |
| May 4, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Culpeper County, VA |
| May 6, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Motley County, TX |
| May 8, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Reno County, KS |
| May 8, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Stafford County, KS |
| May 9, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Cloud County, KS |
| May 9, 1996 | 4.50″ (softball) | Cloud County, KS |
Storm reports by state, May 1996
| State | Hail | Wind | Tornado | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 365 | 97 | 30 | 5.50″ |
| Texas | 344 | 93 | 36 | 5.00″ |
| Oklahoma | 172 | 108 | 9 | 3.00″ |
| Missouri | 117 | 77 | 10 | 2.75″ |
| Kentucky | 68 | 124 | 11 | 3.00″ |
| North Carolina | 99 | 90 | 4 | 2.50″ |
| Nebraska | 160 | 19 | 12 | 4.00″ |
| Virginia | 66 | 109 | 0 | 4.50″ |
| Tennessee | 47 | 109 | 1 | 1.75″ |
| Minnesota | 58 | 85 | 5 | 2.75″ |
| Indiana | 54 | 68 | 12 | 3.00″ |
| South Carolina | 66 | 59 | 4 | 2.50″ |
| Iowa | 71 | 36 | 9 | 4.50″ |
| Colorado | 83 | 7 | 22 | 4.50″ |
| Arkansas | 53 | 36 | 4 | 2.75″ |
| Illinois | 41 | 39 | 11 | 2.75″ |
| Ohio | 45 | 39 | 6 | 3.00″ |
| Georgia | 60 | 29 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| South Dakota | 32 | 30 | 23 | 2.75″ |
| Wisconsin | 18 | 56 | 0 | 2.50″ |
| New York | 5 | 58 | 0 | 1.00″ |
| Pennsylvania | 14 | 42 | 2 | 2.00″ |
| West Virginia | 20 | 32 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| Alabama | 19 | 32 | 0 | 4.50″ |
| Michigan | 30 | 18 | 0 | 1.75″ |
| North Dakota | 15 | 24 | 5 | 1.75″ |
| Florida | 18 | 22 | 3 | 1.75″ |
| Mississippi | 20 | 14 | 0 | 2.00″ |
| New Mexico | 28 | 0 | 3 | 2.00″ |
| Louisiana | 4 | 19 | 1 | 1.75″ |
| Maryland | 1 | 18 | 0 | 2.00″ |
| Connecticut | 0 | 18 | 0 | – |
| Idaho | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1.00″ |
| Wyoming | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2.50″ |
| Montana | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1.00″ |
| New Jersey | 0 | 15 | 0 | – |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 11 | 0 | – |
| Utah | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1.00″ |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 5 | 0 | – |
| Arizona | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.75″ |
| California | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.00″ |
| Oregon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.75″ |
| Vermont | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.75″ |
| Nevada | 0 | 0 | 1 | – |
Every storm day in May 1996
May 1 May 2 May 3 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.