Hail in Grimes Jul 20, 2026
Hit 14 days agoThe radar-estimated size surface caught this storm, reaching 2" aloft. NEXRAD logged no point detections over Grimes this day. At 2" — tennis ball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
2"
≈ tennis ball · radar-estimated size aloft13,402
0
none filedThe most severe storm Grimes 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
- 50 /100
- Homes exposed
- 83 /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 Grimes 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.
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.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Jul 20, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Grimes, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Jul 20, 2026 sits in Grimes's hail record
This was Grimes's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 17 days after the Jul 3, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 5 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Grimes at 2" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Jul 20, 2026 convective day was bigger than Grimes: the same system put hail over 553 other tracked cities, 178 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Johnston (5 miles east, up to 1.75"); West Des Moines (7 miles south, up to 1.25"); Dallas Center (8 miles west, up to 2").
These maps are stills from Grimes's Jul 20, 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 Grimes. 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 2" hail means for Grimes 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.
$161M
Potential roof exposure — 13,402 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Track hail over Grimes on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Grimes storm history — this Jul 20, 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
5 recorded storm days in Grimes, IA
Other storms in Grimes
Jul 3, 2026
1.5"
Jul 2, 2026
1.25"
Jun 11, 2026
0.75"
Mar 30, 2026
1"