Hail in Afton · Apr 23, 2026
Convective day · Apr 23, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 5th most severe storm Afton 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
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 0 /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 Afton 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.
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.
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.
The storm in context
Where Apr 23, 2026 sits in Afton's hail record.
This was Afton's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 5th of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Afton at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 23, 2026 convective day was bigger than Afton: the same system put hail over 703 other tracked cities, 252 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Grand River (9 miles southeast, up to 0"); Murray (9 miles northeast, up to 0"); Osceola (13 miles east, up to 1").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 7 Afton 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 Afton. 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.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for Afton roofs.
Quarter-size and larger hail can bruise asphalt mats, remove granules, and dent exposed soft metal. The mapped footprint identifies an inspection priority area — it does not identify which individual roofs, if any, sustained damage.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Estimated-size surface Aug 19, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 20, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 11, 2026
2.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 10, 2026
2.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 5, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface May 15, 2026
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