StormProof → hail seasons → Rapid City → 1996
Rapid City hail season 1996
35 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 25 miles, across 10 storm days, max 3.00". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 1996 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (1996, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 13, 1996 | 13 | 3.00" | PENNINGTON |
| July 20, 1996 | 5 | 2.00" | CUSTER, PENNINGTON |
| June 11, 1996 | 4 | 1.75" | CUSTER, PENNINGTON |
| September 2, 1996 | 3 | 2.00" | CUSTER, PENNINGTON |
| May 30, 1996 | 3 | 1.75" | PENNINGTON, LAWRENCE |
When it fell
May 3 · Jun 21 · Jul 7 · Aug 1 · Sep 3
Wind context: the record also holds 5 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 1996 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Rapid City claim from 1996?
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 Rapid City 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.