Kansas City Hail: March 13, 2024

March 13, 2024, brought the biggest hail the 20 city record had seen in more than 13 years. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) logged stones of 3.5 inches within 10 miles of Kansas City, Kansas, Shawnee, Merriam and Lenexa. Only September 18, 2010, tops it, at 5.5 inches. In all the years between, no stone near the 20 cities went past 3 inches. And this one came in March.

The northwest side took it

Hail of 1 inch or larger reached 12 of the 20 cities in the metro record. The worst of it fell across Wyandotte County and the northern half of Johnson County, Kansas.

Kansas City, Kansas, logged 17 reports, more than any other city that day. Shawnee had 16, Merriam 12 and Lenexa 11. All four reached 3.5 inches. For Shawnee, no golf ball day on file brought more reports. Kansas City, Kansas, matched its 17 on May 8, 2024.

Bonner Springs, west along the Kansas River, logged 16 reports and 3.5 inch stones as well. It sits outside the 20 city record, so it adds nothing to the 12. On its own list, no other golf ball day passes 9 reports.

South of that core, the stones shrank but stayed large. Prairie Village logged 2.75 inches, baseball size, across seven reports. Olathe reached 2.75 inches on four. Overland Park logged just two reports, topping out at 2 inches. Baseball size or larger reached six of the 12 cities. Golf ball size reached 11 of them.

On the Missouri side, the hail ran smaller. Parkville, Kansas City, Missouri, Gladstone and Raytown each topped out at golf ball size. Independence logged a single report at 1.25 inches. Leavenworth, outside the record to the northwest, logged three reports at 1.5 inches.

Leawood is the surprise. Prairie Village, just to its north, logged baseball size hail. Yet SPC's file holds no report of 1 inch or larger near Leawood that day. The rest of the gap ran south and east, through Grandview, Belton, Raymore, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs and Grain Valley. Liberty, north of the river, missed as well.

Big stones, middling reach

By reach, this day sits in the middle of the metro's widest days. Eleven days in the record put 1 inch hail near more cities. The only other day at 12 cities, April 7, 2013, never got past 1 inch.

By size, it trails only the record holder. September 18, 2010, brought 5.5 inch stones to the Missouri side, near Independence and Blue Springs among others.

Among the 25 widest days in the record, four reached baseball size. Two of those four fell in March, this one and March 6, 2017. That earlier day reached 19 cities with stones of 2.75 inches. This one reached fewer cities with stones three quarters of an inch bigger. After that day, nothing near the 20 cities topped 2.5 inches through the end of the record. SPC's 2025 file can still be revised, so read that as the count for now.

For several cities, this date is the high mark. Kansas City, Kansas, Shawnee, Merriam, Lenexa and Bonner Springs all list 3.5 inches as their largest stone, logged that day. Prairie Village's largest, 2.75 inches, came that day too. The Kansas City hail history page ranks the wide days side by side.

Check the day before too

Your carrier needs a date of loss, and this date has a neighbor worth checking. SPC's file logs golf ball hail on March 12, 2024, near Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Independence, Lee's Summit and Raymore. Near Grain Valley, those stones reached 2 inches. If your car sat on the east side, March 13 may not be your date.

SPC also dates every report in Central Standard Time. Daylight saving time had already started that week. So a storm shortly after midnight on your clock lands on the earlier date in the file.

Either way, the record places hail near a city on a date. It cannot tell you what hit your car. The dents on the car do that.

Photograph every panel before any repair, and keep the originals. Then get a dent count, panel by panel. Ask your carrier what it needs, and how long you have to report.

Stones this size also change the repair itself. Hail of 3.5 inches can crack paint or stretch metal. Dents like that may not come out fully with paintless repair. Can PDR fix every hail dent explains where that line usually falls.

Hear about the hard dents first

Call for a free assessment. The crew comes to the car where it is parked and counts every dent. The dents that will not come out go on their own list, and you hear about them at the estimate.