Lubbock Logged 29 Big-Hail Days in 2025. Dallas Logged 23. West Texas Hail, County by County.
Everyone counts DFW as Texas hail country. The numbers say Lubbock, Abilene, Amarillo and Odessa get as many 1-inch hail days as the Metroplex, bigger stones per day, and a season that runs into August. Here's the 2025 and 2026 count for six West Texas counties, and what it means for working a storm out there.
Ask a roofer where Texas hail is and they'll say Dallas–Fort Worth. Fair enough. DFW has the homes, the claims and the headlines.
But the hail itself doesn't stop at Weatherford. We pulled every hail day we have on file for six West Texas counties and four DFW counties: NOAA Storm Events, National Weather Service ground reports, and radar-estimated hail from the MRMS radar product, combined. A "hail day" below means at least one report or radar signature of 1 inch or larger somewhere in the county that day.
Here's 2025, the last full year.
The 2025 count
| County (main city) | 1"+ days | 1.75"+ days | 2.5"+ days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denton (DFW north) | 30 | 11 | 4 |
| Lubbock (Lubbock) | 29 | 10 | 5 |
| Collin (Plano, McKinney) | 25 | 10 | 4 |
| Taylor (Abilene) | 24 | 10 | 7 |
| Tarrant (Fort Worth, Arlington) | 24 | 9 | 5 |
| Dallas (Dallas) | 23 | 8 | 2 |
| Ector (Odessa) | 22 | 10 | 5 |
| Randall (south Amarillo, Canyon) | 21 | 10 | 4 |
| Potter (north Amarillo) | 15 | 9 | 3 |
| Midland (Midland) | 14 | 6 | 3 |
Lubbock County had more 1-inch hail days than Dallas County. Abilene's Taylor County had more tennis-ball days (2.5 inches and up) than any county in the Metroplex. Five of the six West Texas counties matched or beat Dallas County on golf-ball days (1.75 inches and up).
2026 is tracking the same way. Through early October, Lubbock and Randall counties each have 19 hail days at 1 inch or bigger, Potter has 15. Tarrant has 20 and Dallas 23.
Why nobody talks about it
Three reasons, and only one of them is about hail.
1. Fewer roofs. Dallas County alone has about 572,000 single-family homes. Both Amarillo counties together have fewer than 100,000. A 2-inch storm over Plano damages more roofs than a 2-inch storm over Canyon, so it makes more news and more claims.
2. Fewer people reporting. Ground reports come from spotters, law enforcement, and people posting photos. The Metroplex has millions of them. A 1.75-inch stone falling on ranchland between Lubbock and Abilene often goes unreported. That's why we lean on radar out there. Radar doesn't care how many people live under the storm. (We checked how well our radar estimates hold up against the ground in the hail map accuracy post.)
3. Big counties. Potter County is about 920 square miles. Amarillo is a small part of it. A county hail day is not a city hail day, and it's certainly not a hit on a particular street. More on that below.
The season runs later out west
Here's 2025 by month: how many days at least one of the six West Texas counties had 1-inch hail, against the same count for the four DFW counties.
| Month | West Texas (6 counties) | DFW (4 counties) |
|---|---|---|
| March | 3 | 6 |
| April | 14 | 8 |
| May | 12 | 8 |
| June | 12 | 5 |
| July | 14 | 5 |
| August | 10 | 8 |
| September | 5 | 4 |
| October | 3 | 2 |
DFW's big-hail season is front-loaded: March through May, then scattered summer storms. West Texas peaks in April but stays busy through July and well into August. Golf-ball days (1.75 inches and up) on the West Texas side ran 10 in April, 9 in May, 10 in June, and 4 in July.
The 2026 list of 2-inch days out west tells the same story:
- March 4: Potter, 2 inches
- May 22–23: Lubbock, Potter, Randall and Midland, up to 3 inches
- June 23: Potter and Randall, 3 inches, 26 separate reports, the biggest event of the year for Amarillo
- July 6: Midland and Potter, up to 3.5 inches
- September 10: Randall, 3.25 inches
- September 15: Lubbock, 2.5 inches
That September 10 storm matters. A homeowner in south Amarillo whose roof took 3-inch stones a month ago still has most of a year left if their policy gives a year to file. That's a better lead today than half the spring storms in DFW. (Why the clock matters: the 12-month claim window post.)
What this means if you work West Texas
Fewer homes per storm, so every home counts more. A DFW storm can put 40,000 homes under a swath. A Lubbock storm might put 8,000. You can't afford to knock blind out here. Drive time between neighborhoods is longer, and a wasted afternoon costs more. Sort by stone size at the address and roof age first. We showed how much that narrows a list in the swath post: about 1,500 of 43,000 homes in one Colorado storm were worth knocking.
Roofs get replaced more often, so roof age matters more. A county with 20-plus hail days a year sees a lot of replacements. A good share of the homes under a new storm already have a roof from 2022 or 2023 that came through fine. Those aren't your leads. A 2009 three-tab under the same stones is.
The deductible is real money. Many Texas policies now carry a percentage wind-hail deductible. On a $250,000 dwelling limit, 2% is $5,000 out of pocket before insurance pays. Small stones on a newer roof often don't clear that. Big stones on an old roof usually do. We broke down which doors still pencil out in the Texas 2% deductible post.
Plan for a long season. If you staff for DFW's April–May rush, you'll have crews idle out west in July while storms keep coming. The West Texas calendar supports keeping a canvass or call team on through August.
Cash and crews still have to travel. Out-of-town storm chasers know these numbers too. After a big Amarillo or Lubbock storm, the first local company to call a homeowner with a real answer about their roof usually has the edge. Speed and local presence beat volume.
How to check your own county
The table above is county-wide. Before you spend money in a town, look at the town:
- The free Texas hail statistics page has storm counts by county and city.
- The hail map hub lists storm days by town, with radar-estimated sizes.
- For a single ZIP, the ZIP hail history post explains how to read the count, dates and sizes without fooling yourself.
A few honest caveats about these numbers. NOAA's official Storm Events database runs months behind, so 2026 leans on preliminary NWS reports and radar. Radar-estimated hail sizes are estimates, good at telling a 1-inch storm from a 2.5-inch one, not at telling 1.75 from 2. And a county hail day only means hail fell somewhere in the county. It says nothing about any one roof.
The short version
- In 2025, Lubbock, Abilene, Odessa and Amarillo counties logged 14 to 29 days of 1-inch-plus hail, in the same range as Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton.
- Most West Texas counties had as many golf-ball days as DFW counties, and Abilene's had more tennis-ball days than any of them.
- The West Texas season stays busy through July and into August. DFW's peaks in spring.
- Fewer homes per storm means sorting by stone size at the address and roof age matters even more.
Want to see what a storm is worth before you send anyone? Run your ticket and close rate through the cost-per-job calculator, then check the territory map for what's open near you. One roofer per city, every home scored on radar-estimated stone size at the address and roof age, flat price on the pricing page.
One roofer per city. Real leads from real storms.
Exclusive Colorado territories with NOAA-verified storm scoring and TCPA-compliant outreach data.
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