StormProof → hail seasons → Grand Rapids → 2011
Grand Rapids hail season 2011
9 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 25 miles, across 4 storm days, max 1.75". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 2011 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (2011, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 26, 2011 | 4 | 1.75" | KENT, IONIA, MONTCALM |
| July 1, 2011 | 2 | 1.00" | OTTAWA, KENT |
| May 12, 2011 | 2 | 1.00" | ALLEGAN, BARRY |
| June 21, 2011 | 1 | 1.00" | OTTAWA |
“Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter fell in a one mile wide swath from Jamestown in extreme northeast Ottawa County through Kentwood and East Grand Rapids. The swath continued northeast towards Belding in northwest Ionia County. The swath was estimated based on the correlation of multiple spotter reports with maximum estimated hail size, NSSL hail swath track algorithm, and 0.5 degree reflectivity products form WFO-GR”
— NWS event narrative, April 26, 2011 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Apr 4 · May 2 · Jun 1 · Jul 2
Wind context: the record also holds 13 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 2011 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Grand Rapids claim from 2011?
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.