StormProof → hail seasons → Wichita → 1998
Wichita hail season 1998
37 NWS-recorded hail reports ≥1″ within 30 miles, across 11 storm days, max 4.50". Every one of those reports is a dated, located, citable official record — the context behind this market's 1998 claim volume.
Biggest storm days (1998, final record)
| Date | ≥1″ reports | Max hail | Areas named in the record |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 13, 1998 | 10 | 4.50" | SUMNER, COWLEY, BUTLER, SEDGWICK |
| July 25, 1998 | 6 | 2.00" | SEDGWICK |
| May 24, 1998 | 5 | 4.00" | SUMNER, SEDGWICK |
| April 14, 1998 | 4 | 4.00" | BUTLER, HARVEY |
| June 19, 1998 | 3 | 1.75" | COWLEY, SEDGWICK |
“Softball to grapefruit-sized hail smashed windows and inflicted roof and siding damage to at least 20 homes. Also, at least 20 cars sustained broken windows.”
— NWS event narrative, June 13, 1998 (NCEI Storm Events)
When it fell
Apr 4 · May 6 · Jun 19 · Jul 7 · Aug 1
Wind context: the record also holds 68 thunderstorm-wind events ≥50 kt (≈58 mph, the NWS severe criterion) in this radius for 1998 — relevant where the dispute is wind vs hail causation.
Working a Wichita claim from 1998?
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 30 miles of the Wichita 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.