Storm report · Polk

Hail in Lake Wales Mar 5, 2026

NEXRAD caught this storm: 5 hail signatures up to 1". The radar-estimated size surface had no signal to model this day.

See Lake Wales on the live hail map → Book a 15-min demo

Largest hailstone

≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature

Homes in the hail footprint

106

Ground reports

none filed

Severity

The 12th most severe storm Lake Wales has seen in the last 12 months

Storm severity score

Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.

2.5 /10

Hail size: 25 /100
Homes exposed: 41 /100
Ground truth: 0 /100

Two ways to read the storm

How Lake Wales saw the hail — from two instruments

We map this storm two ways: the NEXRAD radar signatures the storm produced overhead, and the radar-estimated size of the hail in the air. The two surfaces don’t have to match — where they diverge is where estimated size aloft ran ahead of, or behind, what the signatures caught.

NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 5, 2026 — NEXRAD radar signatures — the point detections the storm produced overhead. A signature is where the radar saw hail, not a confirmed stone on the ground.

Max size 1" Detections 5

Only the NEXRAD radar-signature surface resolved for Mar 5, 2026 — the estimated-size swath had no hail signal to model for this storm, so there is one map to show, not two.

The storm in context

Where Mar 5, 2026 sits in Lake Wales's hail record

This was Lake Wales's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 12th of the 20 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Lake Wales at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Mar 5, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lake Wales: the same system put hail over 343 other tracked cities, 30 of them in Florida. Nearest: Lake Alfred (30 miles northwest, up to 0.75"); Kissimmee (35 miles north, up to 1"); Okeechobee (39 miles southeast, up to 0.75").

These maps are stills from Lake Wales's Mar 5, 2026 storm. In the Overview app the same surfaces are live — radar updating in real time, radar-estimated hail size as it forms, and NWS spotter reports pinned where they're filed — with a radar replay you can scrub back over any past day.

Ground reports

What people on the ground reported

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.

For this storm over Lake Wales, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.

Shingle-bruising hail

What 1" hail means for Lake Wales roofs

Quarter-size and larger hail is where asphalt shingle damage starts in earnest: bruised mats and granule loss that homeowners can't see from the ground. Most people inside the footprint won't know their roof was hit until someone inspects it.

What this storm is worth to a roofer

$1.3M

Potential roof exposure — 106 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs

1 job

Illustrative work

~$15K

Close just 0.5% of the 106 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.

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around March 2028 — the window to reach these homeowners while it's still open. Deadlines vary by policy and state.

Track hail over Lake Wales on the live map

Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Lake Wales storm history — this Mar 5, 2026 storm included — sits underneath. When you're ready, draw this storm's footprint and pull highly accurate homeowner contact information for every address inside it.

Reach 106 affected homes → Book a 15-min demo

Highly accurate contact information starting at $0.23 per address — every contact included. Digital leads cost $15–$40. Start with a 7-day free trial — no credit card required. See pricing

Lake Wales hail history

20 recorded storm days in Lake Wales, FL

← All hail in Lake Wales

Other storms in Lake Wales

Jul 26, 2026