StormProof → hail seasons → Grand Rapids → 1997
Grand Rapids hail season 1997
4 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 25 miles, across 2 storm days, max 1.50". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 1997 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (1997, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 19, 1997 | 3 | 1.50" | KENT, OTTAWA |
| May 5, 1997 | 1 | 1.50" | KENT |
“The National Weather Service Office in Grand Rapids received several reports of hail to 1 1/2" in diameter in and around the city of Wyoming. Reports came from the intersections of 36th Street and Burlingame Avenue SW, 44th Street and Clyde Park Avenue SW, and along the Grandville/Wyoming city limits border.”
— NWS event narrative, September 19, 1997 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
May 1 · Sep 3
Wind context: the record also holds 4 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 1997 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Grand Rapids claim from 1997?
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 25 miles of the Grand Rapids 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.