Hail size 1"
1 SW Fort Smith Sebastian County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Crawford
Hail in Van Buren · May 8, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 2.5"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.5" aloft. At 2.5" — baseball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Peak hail signal 2.5" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 44,783
Ground reports 7 7 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · May 8, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Van Buren has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 7.6 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
7.6 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 63 /100
- Homes exposed
- 93 /100
- Ground truth
- 100 /100
Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
Evidence / storm surfaces
How Van Buren saw the hail — from two instruments
May 8, 2026 · Van Buren, AR
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
Radar signature field The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
Max size
2.5"
Detections
0
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
1.5"
The storm in context
Where May 8, 2026 sits in Van Buren's hail record.
This was Van Buren's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 15 days after the Apr 23, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Van Buren at 2.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 8, 2026 convective day was bigger than Van Buren: the same system put hail over 378 other tracked cities, 14 of them in Arkansas. Nearest: Alma (6 miles east, up to 1.75"); Cedarville (9 miles northwest, up to 0.5"); Fort Smith (12 miles southwest, up to 2.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 8 Van Buren storm dates on a live map — both surfaces, the reports, and a replay — and the same map is where you draw the swath. This page rebuilds nightly.
Ground reports
What people on the ground reported
7 reports filed with the NWS
These are storm reports filed with the National Weather Service and released through the NOAA Storm Prediction Center — public-domain observations from spotters, the public, and NWS surveys. We quote each one exactly as filed.
Hail reports
7 reports Hail size 1.25"
1 W Barling Sebastian County
“Damage to vegetation reported. Time revised from radar estimate. (TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
1 N Barling Sebastian County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
1 N Van Buren Crawford County
“Relayed via spotter network. (TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
2 SW Van Buren Sebastian County
“Relayed via spotter network. (TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.25"
1 S Fort Smith Sebastian County
“(TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.75"
1 E Fort Smith Sebastian County
“(TSA)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
How the storm moved
Timing and place names from NOAA ground reports
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
Hail was reported over 13 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Fort Smith and Barling — beyond Van Buren itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2.5" hail means for Van Buren roofs.
Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
44,783 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$537M
Potential roof exposure — 44,783 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 224 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$3.4M
Close just 0.5% of the 44,783 homes in this footprint at the average $15,000 roof job. Illustrative math, not a projection — your results depend on your outreach and how the market responds.
Claim window
May 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around May 2028 — the window to reach these homeowners while it's still open. Deadlines vary by policy and state.
Names and phones for every home in the footprint: at most $9,404 on top of the $150 plan.
Van Buren hail history
Other storms in Van Buren.
8 recorded storm days in Van Buren, AR
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Aug 26, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Aug 20, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Jul 6, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Jun 18, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
May 9, 2026
2.75" Signatures 2.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Van Buren / AR
Mar 6, 2026
No ground reports filed Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
A storm day here is a convective day — it runs from noon to noon
UTC, so late-night hail is grouped with the afternoon storm that
spawned it rather than split across two calendar dates. Ground
reports are public-domain observations from the NOAA Storm
Prediction Center. Radar tells you where to look. Only an inspection confirms damage at an address. Last updated Aug 27, 2026.