Hail in Buffalo Center Apr 23, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 28 hail signatures up to 1", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.5" aloft.
1"
≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature697
0
none filedThe 6th most severe storm Buffalo Center has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 57 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /100
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
How Buffalo Center 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.
Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.
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.
Where Apr 23, 2026 sits in Buffalo Center's hail record
This was Buffalo Center's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 10 days after the Apr 13, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 6th of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Buffalo Center at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 23, 2026 convective day was bigger than Buffalo Center: the same system put hail over 703 other tracked cities, 252 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Wesley (7 miles south, up to 0.75"); Bancroft (13 miles west, up to 1.25"); Elmore (14 miles north, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Buffalo Center's Apr 23, 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.
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 Buffalo Center. 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.
What 1" hail means for Buffalo Center roofs
Quarter-size and larger hail is where asphalt shingle damage starts in earnest: bruised mats and granule loss that homeowners can't see from the ground. Most people inside the footprint won't know their roof was hit until someone inspects it.
$8.4M
Potential roof exposure — 697 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Track hail over Buffalo Center on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Buffalo Center storm history — this Apr 23, 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.
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
8 recorded storm days in Buffalo Center, IA
Other storms in Buffalo Center
Jul 2, 2026
1.75"
Jul 1, 2026
0.75"
Jun 30, 2026
1.75"
Jun 29, 2026
1.75"
May 15, 2026
1"
Apr 13, 2026
1"
Apr 11, 2026
1.75"