/ Storm field report · Polk

Hail in Lake Wales · Aug 26, 2026

Hit 17 days ago

NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface reached 0.5" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.

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Peak hail signal 0.5" ≈ pea to penny · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 24
Ground reports 0 none filed
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size

Convective day · Aug 26, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The 26th most severe storm Lake Wales has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 1.4 / 10
Storm severity score

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

1.4 /10
Peak hail signal
13 /100

Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.

Homes exposed
28 /100

How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.

Ground truth
0 /100

Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.

Evidence / storm surfaces

How Lake Wales saw the hail — from two instruments

Aug 26, 2026 · Lake Wales, FL

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 signatures Surface resolved
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 26, 2026 Radar signature field

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 0" Detections 0
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 26, 2026 Estimated size field

Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.

Max size 0.5"

The storm in context

Where Aug 26, 2026 sits in Lake Wales's hail record.

This was Lake Wales's 26th recorded hail day, arriving 5 days after the Aug 21, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 26th 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 Aug 26, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lake Wales: the same system put hail over 440 other tracked cities, 34 of them in Florida. Nearest: Haines City (18 miles northwest, up to 1.5"); Intercession City (21 miles north, up to 0.5"); Frostproof (21 miles south, up to 0.5").

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

No 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.

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.

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.

24 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$288K

Potential roof exposure — 24 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Claim window

August 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $5 on top of the $150 plan.

Lake Wales hail history

28 recorded storm days in Lake Wales, FL
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Sep 5, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Sep 5, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Sep 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Sep 4, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 21, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Aug 21, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 20, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Aug 20, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 19, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Aug 19, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 12, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Aug 12, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Aug 5, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Aug 5, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 26, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 26, 2026

2.5"
Signatures 2.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 17, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 17, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 16, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 16, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 10, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 10, 2026

1.5"
Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 7, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 7, 2026

0.75"
Signatures 0.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jul 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jul 4, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 30, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 30, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 29, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 29, 2026

1.25"
Signatures 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 24, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 24, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 23, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 23, 2026

1"
Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 22, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 22, 2026

2"
Estimated 2"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 21, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 21, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 20, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 20, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 19, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 19, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Jun 12, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Jun 12, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on May 26, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

May 26, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on May 12, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

May 12, 2026

2.75"
Signatures 2.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 25, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Mar 25, 2026

0.75"
Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 15, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Mar 15, 2026

2"
Signatures 2" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Lake Wales, FL on Mar 5, 2026 NEXRAD surface
Storm date Lake Wales / FL

Mar 5, 2026

1"
Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →

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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 Sep 6, 2026.