Thunderstorms produced softball-sized hail in parts of Springfield on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. While hail is fairly common in the Ozarks in the spring, very seldom has the area seen hail greater than 3″, let alone 4″.
Hail records started being kept in 1950. Prior to Tuesday, the most expensive hail storm in Greene County was $4 million in Republic on April 15, 2023. The most expensive hailstorm in the Ozarks was in Marshfield on May 26, 2024, at $12.5 million. Lastly, the most expensive hailstorm in Missouri occurred on April 10, 2001, in St. Louis, where baseball-sized hail caused over $1 billion in damage.
Greene County has reported hail of 3″ in diameter just 6 times, including Tuesday’s storm. There are no reports of 4″ hail in Greene County since before Tuesday’s storm. The largest hailstone reported from Tuesday’s storm was a whopping 4.75″. That’s roughly the size of a CD or DVD, and makes Tuesday’s storm the largest hail on record in Springfield and Greene County.
Aurora in Lawrence County also experienced destructive hail with several 4″ hailstone reports. Aurora has reported 5″ hail on two occasions, the largest at 5.25″ on April 26, 1994. The most expensive hailstorm in Lawrence County was $6 million dollars in Aurora on November 18, 2003…