Hail in Lake Wales · May 26, 2026
Convective day · May 26, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 19th most severe storm Lake Wales has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Peak hail signal
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 41 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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 Lake Wales saw the hail — from two instruments
The maps here read the same storm from two angles — point detections from NEXRAD, and modeled hail size aloft. Where the two disagree is informative: it marks where estimated size outran the signatures, or trailed them.
Estimated size field The modeled maximum hail size across the swath, derived from radar aloft — the largest stone the storm could have supported, which is not necessarily what reached the ground.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for May 26, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Lake Wales, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where May 26, 2026 sits in Lake Wales's hail record.
This was Lake Wales's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 14 days after the May 12, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 19th of the 28 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Lake Wales at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 26, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lake Wales: the same system put hail over 259 other tracked cities, 4 of them in Florida. Nearest: Parrish (62 miles southwest, up to 0.75"); Bradenton (67 miles southwest, up to 0.75"); Palmetto (67 miles southwest, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 28 Lake Wales 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
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.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Lake Wales roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$1.3M
Potential roof exposure — 110 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 110 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 $23 on top of the $150 plan.
Lake Wales hail history
Other storms in Lake Wales.
Estimated-size surface Sep 5, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Sep 4, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 26, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 21, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Aug 20, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 19, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 12, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 5, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 26, 2026
2.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 17, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 16, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 10, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 7, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 4, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 30, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 29, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 24, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 23, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 22, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface Jun 21, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 20, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 19, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 12, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface May 12, 2026
2.75"
Estimated-size surface Mar 25, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Mar 15, 2026
2"
NEXRAD surface Mar 5, 2026
1"The next storm won’t wait for you.
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