Hail in California — where it hits, county by county
Hail is a fact of life on California ground — 417 National Weather Service hail reports in the last 5 years, led by HUMBOLDT County, peaking around February. The table below ranks the counties; the interactive national map shows exactly where, year by year. Checking a specific address? The map’s search box pulls every dated report within 25 miles.
Open the interactive map on California →Top hail counties in California (2022–2026)
| County | Reports | Avg/yr | Peak month | % damaging (≥1.5″) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUMBOLDT | 215 | 43.0 | Feb | 0% |
| SAN DIEGO | 58 | 11.6 | Feb | 0% |
| MENDOCINO | 36 | 7.2 | Feb | 0% |
| DEL NORTE | 36 | 7.2 | Feb | 0% |
| RIVERSIDE | 34 | 6.8 | Feb | 0% |
| ORANGE | 19 | 3.8 | Feb | 0% |
| TULARE | 19 | 3.8 | Mar | 0% |
Key figures — California hail at a glance
- California logged 417 National Weather Service hail reports statewide over the last 5 years (2022–2026).
- HUMBOLDT County leads California with 215 hail reports over that span — about 43.0 per year.
- Reported hail in California peaks in February.
- Roughly 0 of California's reports involved stones 1.5″ or larger — the size that damages roofs, vehicles, and crops.
Citing these figures? Attribution: AGSIST National Hail Map, https://agsist.com/hail-map/california (NWS Local Storm Reports, 2022–2026). Data is available at no charge; a link back keeps it that way.
California hail — the questions people ask
Where does it hail the most in California?
By reported hail over the last 5 years, the most active counties in California are HUMBOLDT, SAN DIEGO, MENDOCINO. Reports track population and spotter coverage as well as storms, so rural corridors can be under-counted; the persistent leaders on this table are real hail geography.
When is hail season in California?
Reported hail in California peaks around February, with most activity in the spring-through-midsummer window. Any single year can break the pattern.
How much of California's hail is damaging?
On this page, damaging means reported stones of 1.5″ or larger — the size that reliably dents roofs and vehicles and strips crops. The per-county damaging share is in the table; statewide, hail of any size totaled 417 reports over 5 years.
Insurance, roofing, or ag professional using this data in client-facing work? The same dataset is available as a licensable embeddable widget — details on the sponsor page or email sig@farmers1st.com.