Hail size 1"
1 WSW Cedar Falls Black Hawk County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Grundy
Hail in Cedar Falls · Apr 14, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 2.25" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Cedar Falls that day. At 2.25" — tennis ball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 2.25" ≈ tennis ball · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 6,392
Ground reports 4 4 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Apr 14, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Cedar Falls has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 6.3 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
6.3 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 56 /100
- Homes exposed
- 76 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Cedar Falls saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 14, 2026 · Cedar Falls, IA
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-estimated hail size Surface resolved
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.
Max size
2.25"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 14, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Cedar Falls, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Apr 14, 2026 sits in Cedar Falls's hail record.
This was Cedar Falls's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Cedar Falls at 2.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than Cedar Falls: the same system put hail over 476 other tracked cities, 143 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Dike (5 miles west, up to 2.25"); Reinbeck (7 miles south, up to 2.25"); New Hartford (7 miles north, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 7 Cedar Falls 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
4 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.
Hail reports
4 reports Hail size 1"
1 W Cedar Falls Black Hawk County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 2"
1 SSE Cedar Falls Black Hawk County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
Dike Grundy County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
How the storm moved
Timing and place names from NOAA ground reports
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
The storm tracked east at roughly 20 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.
Hail was reported over 34 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Dike — beyond Cedar Falls itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2.25" hail means for Cedar Falls roofs.
Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
6,392 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$77M
Potential roof exposure — 6,392 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 32 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$480K
Close just 0.5% of the 6,392 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
April 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around April 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 $1,342 on top of the $150 plan.
Cedar Falls hail history
Other storms in Cedar Falls.
7 recorded storm days in Cedar Falls, IA
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
Aug 10, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
Aug 7, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
Jul 26, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
Jul 2, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
May 16, 2026
0.5" Signatures 0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Cedar Falls / IA
May 15, 2026
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 Aug 11, 2026.