StormProof → hail seasons → Chicago → 2006
Chicago hail season 2006
53 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 45 miles, across 13 storm days, max 2.00". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 2006 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (2006, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2, 2006 | 17 | 1.75" | LAKE, WILL, COOK, DU PAGE |
| April 2, 2006 | 7 | 1.50" | WILL, KENDALL, COOK, DU PAGE |
| May 17, 2006 | 6 | 1.75" | COOK, LAKE |
| April 13, 2006 | 4 | 2.00" | LAKE, WINNEBAGO |
| September 22, 2006 | 3 | 1.75" | LEE, LA SALLE, COOK |
“Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported across much of Plainfield. Quarter size hail fell for 10 minutes at the Intersection of Route 30 at 127th Street.”
— NWS event narrative, October 2, 2006 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Feb 1 · Mar 2 · Apr 13 · May 11 · Jun 4 · Aug 2 · Sep 3 · Oct 17
Wind context: the record also holds 126 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 2006 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Chicago claim from 2006?
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.