StormProof → hail seasons → Chicago → 2004
Chicago hail season 2004
24 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 45 miles, across 10 storm days, max 1.75". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 2004 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (2004, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2004 | 6 | 1.75" | WILL, PORTER, KENDALL, COOK |
| March 1, 2004 | 5 | 1.00" | LA PORTE, COOK, MCHENRY |
| May 9, 2004 | 3 | 1.00" | WILL, COOK |
| May 21, 2004 | 2 | 1.00" | DU PAGE |
| April 20, 2004 | 2 | 1.75" | WILL, COOK |
“There were numerous reports of hail ranging from nickel size to golfball size. Some locations included 135th and Route 30, 248th Avenue and 119th Street, 1 mile west of Route 59, 135th and the Kendall-Will County line, and on 11th Street, west of Route 59.”
— NWS event narrative, May 23, 2004 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Mar 5 · Apr 4 · May 13 · Jun 1 · Aug 1
Wind context: the record also holds 118 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 2004 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Chicago claim from 2004?
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.