StormProof → hail seasons → Chicago → 2003
Chicago hail season 2003
90 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 45 miles, across 10 storm days, max 2.50". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 2003 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (2003, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 1, 2003 | 28 | 1.75" | LAKE, WILL, KENDALL, COOK |
| July 17, 2003 | 27 | 2.50" | LAKE, PORTER, WILL, KANE |
| July 6, 2003 | 9 | 2.00" | WILL, COOK, DU PAGE, LAKE |
| July 15, 2003 | 8 | 2.00" | KANE, WILL, DU PAGE |
| August 3, 2003 | 7 | 1.75" | WILL, COOK |
“Hail ranged from the size of pennies at Illinois Route 64 and Route 53 to golf ball size hail along Main Street.”
— NWS event narrative, August 1, 2003 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Apr 3 · May 6 · Jul 46 · Aug 35
Wind context: the record also holds 94 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 2003 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Chicago claim from 2003?
These are aggregates. A claim file needs the per-address record: every recorded event within 1, 3 and 10 miles of the property, distances, official narratives, and citations an adjuster can check line by line. That's the report — generated in seconds, hosted on HailEvidence (the neutral evidence surface), formatted as an insurance-appeal attachment.
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Provenance
Final counts: NCEI Storm Events Database, file vintage c20260527, hail events with recorded magnitude ≥1.00″ and point coordinates within 45 miles of the Chicago anchor. NWS records are point and path observations. The absence of a nearby report does NOT prove that no hail fell at this address — it means no observation was logged nearby. A report of nearby hail documents the event; it does not by itself prove damage to a specific structure. Spotted an error? Email the address on our terms page and we correct against the source.