Hail in Hawarden · May 14, 2026
Convective day · May 14, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 9th most severe storm Hawarden 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
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 26 /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 Hawarden 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.
Radar signature field 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.
Only the NEXRAD radar-signature surface resolved for May 14, 2026 — the estimated-size swath had no hail signal to model for this storm, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where May 14, 2026 sits in Hawarden's hail record.
This was Hawarden's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 9th of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Hawarden at 0.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than Hawarden: the same system put hail over 61 other tracked cities, 3 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Bridgewater (57 miles northwest, up to 0.5"); Olivet (62 miles west, up to 0.5"); Dolliver (92 miles east, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 Hawarden 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.
For this storm over Hawarden, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Hawarden roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$240K
Potential roof exposure — 20 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Claim window
May 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around May 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 $4 on top of the $150 plan.
Hawarden hail history
Other storms in Hawarden.
Estimated-size surface Sep 4, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Sep 1, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jul 25, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 30, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 29, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 27, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface May 18, 2026
1.75"The next storm won’t wait for you.
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