Kansas City Hail: September 16, 2025

September 16, 2025, was wide and thin. Hail of 1 inch or larger reached 15 of the 20 cities in the metro record, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC). No day since June 2019 reached as many. Yet no stone near any city went past golf ball size, and no city logged more than seven reports. Each city's count takes in reports within 10 miles of its center point. Like every 2025 entry, it can still change if SPC revises its 2025 file.

Golf ball west, scattered east

The golf ball hail stayed on the Kansas side. Kansas City, Kansas, logged seven reports, the most of any city that day. Lenexa, Merriam, Prairie Village and Shawnee logged six each. Leawood added three and Overland Park two. All seven topped out at 1.75 inches.

For Kansas City, Kansas, seven reports is a modest day. On March 13, 2024, the same circle logged 17, with stones of 3.5 inches. So the Kansas side got golf ball hail in plenty of places, but not much of it in any one place.

Bonner Springs, outside the 20 city record, logged five reports at golf ball size too. It is the only city beyond the record with any 1 inch hail on file that day.

Across the state line, the file thins out. Kansas City, Missouri, logged three reports, topping out at 1.25 inches. Gladstone, Parkville, Raytown, Independence, Blue Springs, Grain Valley and Lee's Summit logged one report each, at 1 inch. That is a long list of Missouri cities with a single small entry apiece.

Five cities in the record have nothing of 1 inch or more that day. Olathe borders both Lenexa and Overland Park, and its line is still blank. Liberty missed to the north. Grandview, Belton and Raymore missed to the south.

Tied for fifth by reach

Only four days in the record put 1 inch hail near more cities. All four reached 19 cities: April 3, 2011, April 26, 2016, May 26, 2016, and March 6, 2017. Two more days matched its 15, June 1, 2019, and June 21, 2019. Those two June days are the closest match in shape, since both topped out at golf ball size or less.

None of those six fell in September. This is the widest September day in the record. The other wide Septembers, September 18, 2010, and September 27, 2019, each reached 11 cities.

Its depth tells a different story. Four months earlier, May 19, 2025, reached fewer cities, 13, yet eight of them logged 10 or more reports. On September 16, no city reached even eight.

For every one of the 15 cities it reached, this is the latest 1 inch day on file. The same holds for Bonner Springs. It is not the last hail in the file, though. SPC logged 1 inch hail near Leavenworth and Platte City on October 18, 2025. The Kansas City hail history page sets this day beside the other wide ones.

Reading a thin record

If your car shows dents from September 2025, this date is the obvious first guess for a claim. Your carrier will want a date of loss, and the record can help you name one. It cannot do more than that. A report shows hail near a city on a date. It does not show what hit your car.

That matters more on a thin day. On the Missouri side, most cities logged a single 1 inch report. If your car sat in Independence or Lee's Summit that Tuesday, one entry is all the file holds for your city. One report places hail somewhere within range. It says little about any single street.

Smaller hail also tends to leave smaller dents. Hail at golf ball size and below often leaves shallow dents that hide in flat light. Photos taken at a low angle catch more of them, and the after hail guide shows how.

Waiting affects some dents more than others. A dent under unbroken paint keeps its shape through a winter. A chip or a crack is different, because bare metal can rust once the paint is gone.

Next comes a dent count that runs panel by panel. Ask your carrier what it needs, and how its reporting terms apply to a loss from September 2025. SPC can still revise the counts for this date, so treat the table as current, not final.

Small dents still count

Call for a free assessment. The crew drives to wherever the car sits and inspects each panel in good light. You get the full count, plus a plain answer on which dents will not come out.