Colorado hail season runs from about April through September, and it peaks in June. A Colorado Climate Center review of storm reports found the season can open as early as March and close in October, but May through August produces the vast majority of hail, and the biggest stones fall mostly from late June through August. Almost all damaging hail lands east of the mountains, from the foothills out to the Kansas line, and most of it falls between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.
On this page: When hail season starts and peaks · Odds by city · Time of day · Where it hits hardest · How big it gets · Season calendar for your roof · Confirming a storm date
When does hail season start and peak in Colorado?
| Period | What to expect |
|---|---|
| March to April | Early, mostly small hail. Morning hailstorms, which are rare, show up mainly in April and May |
| May | Hail days climb fast. Fort Collins and Grand Junction historically see their most hail this month |
| June | The statewide peak. In the Climate Center study, June averaged slightly more than 10 large-hail days and about 46 severe storm reports a year |
| July | Nearly as many hail days as June, and the month most likely to bring the very largest stones |
| August | Fewer storms, but still big-stone season. Both Colorado record hailstones fell in August |
| September to October | The season winds down. Hail days drop to a fraction of the summer rate, and a few morning storms return in September |
Year to year, the swings are large. The same study counted 25 severe hail days statewide in 1988 and 51 in 1993, and June severe hail reports ranged from 12 to 96 across eight years. June 2023 shows how extreme a single month can be: Colorado State University reported 310 preliminary reports of hail over 1 inch that month, which would be the most in any month on record if confirmed, including 2-inch hail that injured nearly 100 people at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on June 21.
How often does it hail in your Colorado city?
The Climate Center compiled the average number of days per year with hail of any size at long-running weather stations. These figures come from records ending in 1993, so treat them as the long-term pattern rather than a forecast.
| Station | Hail days per year | Busiest month (avg. days) |
|---|---|---|
| Limon | 7.1 | June (1.8) |
| Colorado Springs | 5.8 | June (1.9) |
| Denver | 4.8 | May and June (1.2 each) |
| Fort Collins | 4.8 | May (1.4) |
| Pueblo | 4.1 | May (1.1) |
| Alamosa | 3.0 | June (0.8) |
| Grand Junction | 1.2 | May (0.4) |
A point on the map is hit far less often than the region around it. Hail usually falls for only a few minutes at any one spot; a study of 60 Fort Collins hail events found a median of 6 minutes. That is why one side of a neighborhood can need new roofs while the other side has nothing.
What time of day does hail fall?
Colorado hail is an afternoon and evening event. In the 1986 to 1993 study, 90 percent of severe hailstorms fell between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m., and fewer than 2 percent fell between 11 p.m. and 10 a.m. The timing shifts as storms move east: near the mountains most hail falls between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., while out near the Kansas border storms are most likely from 3 p.m. to midnight. Storm systems can last for hours even when each spot gets minutes of hail. The July 11, 1990 storm started near Estes Park and kept dropping hail all the way south into El Paso County, a run of more than three hours.
Where in Colorado does hail hit hardest?
Damaging hail is an eastern Colorado problem. Of more than 1,200 severe hail reports statewide from 1986 to 1993, only about 50 came from the mountains or the Western Slope, and few of those damaged property.
- The Front Range cities. El Paso and Weld counties led the state in reported severe hailstorms in that study. The Denver metro, the Pikes Peak region and the northern Front Range all sit where moist air from the Gulf meets dry air off the mountains, the setup that builds hail-producing storms.
- The Palmer Ridge. Radar, satellite and weather records point to the high ground between Denver and Colorado Springs, running east past Limon, as one of the two most hail-prone areas in the state. The other is the Cheyenne Ridge along the Wyoming and Nebraska borders.
- Lower-risk pockets. The same study found distinctly fewer reports in Boulder and Longmont than in other Front Range cities, though the Lafayette area just east of Boulder had many.
- The mountains. Summer storms bring frequent small, soft hail (graupel) that rarely damages a roof. Snow, ice dams and wildfire rules matter more there; see our guide to the roofing materials that hold up in Colorado.
How big does Colorado hail get?
The National Weather Service treats hail 1 inch across (quarter size) or larger as severe. Golf ball hail is 1 3/4 inches, baseball hail 2 3/4 inches and softball hail 4 1/2 inches.
- Most damaging storms bring 1 to 1.5 inch stones. That range, which includes golf-ball size, made up more than a third of the severe reports in the Climate Center study. Slightly more than a third had stones larger than 1.5 inches, and 6 percent had stones of 2.5 inches or more.
- The record is 5.25 inches. A stone photographed near Kirk on August 8, 2023 holds the state record. The previous record, 4.83 inches, fell near Bethune on August 13, 2019.
- Big stones fall fast. The Climate Center notes that 4.5-inch stones can fall at close to 90 miles per hour, enough to punch through an asphalt shingle and plywood roof.
Size matters less than the roof it lands on. A new impact-rated shingle shrugs off hail that cracks a 15-year-old standard shingle. If you are replacing anyway, read whether a Class 4 shingle is worth it in Colorado and how Class 4 shingles compare.
A hail season calendar for your roof
- March and April: get a baseline. A spring inspection with dated photos makes new damage easy to separate from old wear later. Clear gutters and downspouts, and look up your wind and hail deductible; many Colorado policies now use percentage hail deductibles.
- May through August: check after every storm. Write down the date and time, then look from the ground for dented gutters, vents and downspouts, torn screens and chipped paint. Do not climb a wet or damaged roof.
- Within weeks, not months: report damage. Your policy sets the reporting deadline, and hail damage gets harder to tie to one storm as it ages. Our guide to how long you have to file a hail claim covers where that deadline is written.
- September and October: finish repairs before freeze. Cracked shingles and broken seals let water in once snow and ice arrive. Roofs can still be replaced in winter on most days; see installing roofs year-round in Colorado.
- Before you sign anything: know what a Colorado roofing contract must include, and get a sense of what a roof replacement costs in Colorado so a storm-season bid does not surprise you.
How to confirm hail hit your address
- SPC storm reports. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center posts each day’s hail, wind and tornado reports, with maps and downloadable files, back to June 1, 1999. You can look up any date.
- NOAA Storm Events Database. The official archive of storm reports, searchable by state, county and event type.
- A dated inspection. Reports show hail fell nearby; only an inspection shows whether it marked your roof. After a storm, local guides walk through checks for Colorado Springs, Denver and Highlands Ranch, and our hail damage or normal wear guide shows what each looks like.
How we help after a Colorado hailstorm
We inspect the roof, photograph every impact and give you an honest answer on repair or replacement. If you file a claim, the claim stays yours; we make sure nothing gets missed in the scope. Integrity Roofing and Painting is veteran-owned and family-run since 1990, an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred contractor with 650+ Google reviews, and we respond the same business day. Book Colorado Springs hail damage repair or a free Colorado Springs inspection at (719) 488-2800, or Denver storm damage repair and a free Denver inspection at (303) 209-0152.
Before the season, work through our spring and fall roof maintenance checklist; after a storm, our printable after-hail storm damage checklist lists each step in order.
Sources: Nolan J. Doesken, Colorado Climate Center, "Hail, Hail, Hail! The Summertime Hazard of Eastern Colorado," Colorado Climate, April 1994 (season, monthly, time-of-day, station and size statistics; 1974 to 1993 records); Colorado Climate Center, State Records; Colorado State University SOURCE, June 2023 climate highlights (July 12, 2023); National Weather Service, hail size reference; NOAA Storm Prediction Center, storm reports; NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database; Colorado Climate Center, severe weather report climatology (1955 to 2025).
