Storm report · Polk

Hail in Lake Wales Mar 15, 2026

Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 31 hail signatures up to 2", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.5" aloft. At 2" — tennis ball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.

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Largest hailstone

≈ tennis ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature

Homes in the hail footprint

7,568

Ground reports

none filed

Severity

The 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.

4.9 /10

Hail size: 50 /100
Homes exposed: 78 /100
Ground truth: 0 /100

Two ways to read the storm

How Lake Wales saw the hail — from two instruments

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-signature map of the hail storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 15, 2026 — 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" Detections 31

Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 15, 2026 — 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 0.5"

The storm in context

Where Mar 15, 2026 sits in Lake Wales's hail record

This was Lake Wales's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 10 days after the Mar 5, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 20 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Lake Wales at 2" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Mar 15, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lake Wales: the same system put hail over 695 other tracked cities, 66 of them in Florida. Nearest: Frostproof (17 miles southwest, up to 2"); Haines City (17 miles northwest, up to 1.75"); Zolfo Springs (21 miles southwest, up to 2.25").

These maps are stills from Lake Wales's Mar 15, 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.

No ground reports were filed with the National Weather Service for this storm over Lake Wales. That is common: a report depends on someone being there to see it and take the time to call it in. The radar surfaces above are the record here — the storm was detected from above even though no one on the ground logged it.

Severe, roof-replacing hail

What 2" hail means for Lake Wales roofs

Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.

What this storm is worth to a roofer

$91M

Potential roof exposure — 7,568 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs

38 jobs

Illustrative work

~$570K

Close just 0.5% of the 7,568 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 15, 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 7,568 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