When does Iowa get the most hail?
Hail season in Iowa runs from the late spring into early summer, usually spanning the months of April, May, and June. June gets the most hail of the year in Iowa, but there are hailstorms in the months that follow, as well. In fact, Iowa farms receive the most significant crop damage in July, when the plants are more vulnerable to hail impact.
How often does it hail in Iowa?
Hail events in Iowa have been happening in increasing numbers over the past five years, with a more ‘normal’ 83 hail days recorded in 2020 ramping up to a recent high of 109 hail days in 2025. Breaking down hail reports by county, most locations get an average of between 2 and 4 hail days per year.
Where does it hail the most in Iowa?
The top five Iowa counties (included metro areas noted) with the greatest number of hail days per year (since 2014) were:
Counties in Iowa | Hail Days/yr. | Notable Cities There | |
1 | Polk County | 154 | Des Moines |
2 | Story County | 119 | Ames |
3 | Linn County | 117 | Cedar Rapids |
4 | Warren County | 90 | South of Des Moines |
5 | Scott County | 88 | Davenport |
Most hail damage in Iowa occurs in the northwestern part of the state, which gets the most frequent and severe hailstorms.
How can I prepare for hailstorms in Iowa?
You can prepare for hail season by making sure that you are covered in two different ways. First, take the opportunity to confirm the health of your home’s roof before hail season arrives. The best way to check this is to recruit a reputable local roofing professional to take a look first-hand and create a roofer’s report that includes photos of any damaged or suspicious spots that they see. Keep this information handy for possible use as ‘before’ proof of how your roof looked before a storm hit.
With this information in hand, you can feel confident that your roof is intact and ready to protect you from damaging weather conditions including wind, hail, and heavy rain.
Second, review your current home insurance coverage, with a specific focus on how your policy handles wind and hail coverage. Find out if your homeowners policy includes wind and hail coverage, or if they have been excluded for some reason. If you don’t know these answers, ask your insurance agent by phone or email to find out for sure. It’s also important to understand how your home insurance deductibles work.
The deductible for most home policies will be a flat rate, often set at $500, $1,000, or $2,500 for non-wind-and-hail claims. In states with a greater risk of wind and hailstorms, such as Iowa, insurers will often write their policies to include a separate deductible for wind and hail coverage, calculating that amount in a different way. These wind and hail deductibles are most often calculated as a percentage of the insured property’s value. Hail deductibles set at 2% of the home’s value are common across the Great Plains, Midwestern, and Southeastern states.
If your home was valued at $300,000 and the wind and hail insurance policy included a 2% wind/hail deductible, you would immediately owe $6,000 as a deductible after you filed a claim with your insurer to repair hail and wind damage to your home. The deductible is due before the insurance company pays a single dollar towards the repairs.
Homeowners who aren’t familiar with the specifics of their policy’s wind and hail coverage may find themselves presented with an unexpected bill for several thousand dollars in a case like this. Ask your agent questions as soon as possible if you’re unclear on any of the details to avoid surprise costs.
Is Hail Insurance Required in Iowa?
Wind and hail coverage is not required by law in Iowa, but it is generally included as a part of any homeowners policy that you purchase. Homeowners insurance is also not required by Iowa law, but that is something that will be required by your mortgage company if you’re buying your home through a lender.
The Iowa Insurance Division offers extensive resources to answer questions you may have about the different types of home insurance available and how to go about securing coverage or making a claim.
If you are in a situation where you cannot obtain coverage for your home due to an inability to pay your premiums, the Iowa FAIR Plan Association can provide assistance. The FAIR Plan provides options for homeowners facing cancellation or non-renewal of their coverage by other companies in the market.
How can I get lower home insurance costs in Iowa?
There are some ways that you can improve the insurability of your home and help to reduce the amount you need to spend to maintain your home hail coverage.
Home fortification projects such as installing impact-resistant shingles can result in lower premiums for your home insurance policy’s wind and hail coverage. By encouraging the construction of stronger, more resilient homes and home roofs, these programs lower the overall risk for an area, allowing insurers to offer discounts for homeowners taking advantage of the improvements.
Another method for controlling your insurance costs is to use a standalone wind and hail insurance deductible assistance policy to cover a higher wind and hail deductible. With this adjustment, a lower monthly premium could be available, meaning lower costs up front.
In the case that a claim needed to be made, the standalone policy would be written to cover the deductible down to the dollar, meaning no out-of-pocket payments would be required at that time. The savings from the lower home insurance premiums would more than cover the cost of the standalone wind and hail policy.
Can I get standalone wind and hail coverage in Iowa?
Standalone, add-on policies like Sola’s Wind and Hail Insurance offer a variety of uses and benefits aside from helping to cover high deductible costs for Iowa homeowners.
A Sola policy can also be used to bridge a coverage gap left by traditional home insurance that only offers Actual Cash Value. ACV coverage pays out a fraction of what it would cost to replace a roof with today’s materials and labor prices, and many policyholders find themselves being moved to this level of coverage without warning.
One other benefit of a standalone insurance policy like Sola Wind and Hail is the fact that it exists outside of your traditional homeowners policy. Sola claims do not affect your insurance history, and won’t result in higher rates elsewhere, non-renewal, or difficulty getting insured in the future.
Sources:
“Iowa Fair Plan Association” Iowa Fair Plan, https://iowafairplan.com/
“Iowa Hail History — Statewide Records” ExoVzn, https://www.exovzn.com/hail-history/ia
“Post Disaster Claims Guide” Iowa.gov, https://iid.iowa.gov/media/2952/download?inline
“Iowa Disaster History” Homeland Security and Emergency Management, https://homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/disasters/iowa-disaster-history
Gray is the Senior Content Specialist at Sola Insurance, working with the Sales and Marketing teams to provide helpful, valuable content for homeowners and agents. Gray has worked previously in finance, logistics, and advertising.
