Tornado Rating unknown
4 ENE Graettinger Emmet County
“location estimated. (DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Estherville Apr 13, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 35 hail signatures up to 2", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.25" aloft. At 2" — tennis ball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm — see the ground reports below.
Largest hailstone
2"
≈ tennis ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
615
Ground reports
3
2 hail · 1 tornadoThe most severe storm Estherville has seen in the last 12 months
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.4 /10
- Hail size
- 50 /100
- Homes exposed
- 56 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Estherville 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.
NEXRAD radar signatures
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
2"
Detections
35
Radar-estimated hail size
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
1.25"
Where Apr 13, 2026 sits in Estherville's hail record
This was Estherville's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 10 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Estherville at 2" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 13, 2026 convective day was bigger than Estherville: the same system put hail over 467 other tracked cities, 64 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Terril (7 miles south, up to 1"); Spirit Lake (8 miles northwest, up to 1.25"); Wallingford (12 miles southeast, up to 2").
These maps are stills from Estherville's Apr 13, 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.
Tornado reports
1 reportHail reports
2 reports Hail size 1"
Graettinger Palo Alto County
“Pea to Quarter. (DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.5"
Gruver Emmet County
“Time estimated from spotter/radar. (DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports,
not a radar-measured storm track.
How the storm moved
The storm tracked south at roughly 10 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.
Hail was reported over 45 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Graettinger and Gruver — beyond Estherville itself.
What 2" hail means for Estherville roofs
Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$7.4M
Potential roof exposure — 615 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
3 jobs
Illustrative work
~$45K
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.
Track hail over Estherville on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Estherville storm history — this Apr 13, 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
Estherville hail history
← All hail in Estherville 10 recorded storm days in Estherville, IA
Other storms in Estherville
Jul 4, 2026
Jul 2, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 1, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 30, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 29, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 27, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 25, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 17, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
2
ground reports 
May 15, 2026
2.25" Signatures 2.25" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed
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 surfaces are detections and estimates,
not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.