Hail in Alton · Sep 5, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Convective day · Sep 5, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Alton 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
- 71 /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 Alton saw the hail — from two instruments
Two instruments, one storm: NEXRAD logs the point signatures it detected overhead, while the estimated-size surface models how large the hail aloft could have grown. Agreement between them is not guaranteed — the gaps are where the model ran ahead of, or behind, the detections.
Radar signature field NEXRAD's hail signatures for this storm: the spots the radar detected from above. A detection overhead is not the same thing as a confirmed stone below.
Estimated size field Radar-estimated maximum hail size across the swath, modeled from radar aloft. It reflects the biggest stone the storm could support, which may differ from what actually fell.
The storm in context
Where Sep 5, 2026 sits in Alton's hail record.
This was Alton's 8th recorded hail day, arriving 4 days after the Sep 1, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Alton at 1" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Sep 5, 2026 convective day was bigger than Alton: the same system put hail over 514 other tracked cities, 12 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Granville (5 miles east, up to 1"); Remsen (7 miles south, up to 1"); Sioux Center (12 miles northwest, up to 1").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 Alton 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.
The National Weather Service logged no spotter reports for this storm over Alton. That absence is ordinary — filing a report takes a person on the spot who saw the hail and phoned it in. What stands as the record for this date is the radar above, which caught the storm regardless.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for Alton 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
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$44M
Potential roof exposure — 3,655 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 18 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$270K
Close just 0.5% of the 3,655 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
September 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around September 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 $768 on top of the $150 plan.
Estimated-size surface Sep 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Sep 1, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Aug 28, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 30, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 29, 2026
1"
NEXRAD surface May 18, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface May 17, 2026
1"Take your next area into the field.
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