Tornado Rating unknown
3 SW Downey Johnson County
“An EF0 tornado lofted a corn crib... snapped trees... bent an auger... and partially destroyed a roof on a farm outbuilding. (DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Johnson
Hail in Iowa City · Apr 2, 2026
NEXRAD logged 6 hail signatures up to 3"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.25" aloft. At 3" — baseball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm. The ground reports below show where it was filed.
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Peak hail signal 3" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 243
Ground reports 2 1 hail · 1 tornado
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Apr 2, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Iowa City has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 6.4 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
6.4 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 75 /100
- Homes exposed
- 48 /100
- Ground truth
- 50 /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 Iowa City saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 2, 2026 · Iowa City, IA
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 Surface resolved
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.
Max size
3"
Detections
6
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field 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"
The storm in context
Where Apr 2, 2026 sits in Iowa City's hail record.
This was Iowa City's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 2 days after the Mar 31, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 12 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Iowa City at 3" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 2, 2026 convective day was bigger than Iowa City: the same system put hail over 160 other tracked cities, 46 of them in Iowa. Nearest: West Branch (8 miles northeast, up to 2.75"); West Liberty (12 miles southeast, up to 1.25"); Riverside (13 miles southwest, up to 2.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 12 Iowa City 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
2 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.
Tornado reports
1 reportHail reports
1 report Hail size 1.75"
1 ESE Iowa City Municip Johnson County
“Media. (DVN)”
— 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.
Reports came from Iowa City Municip and Downey — beyond Iowa City itself.
Severe hail signal
What 3" hail means for Iowa City 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.
243 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$2.9M
Potential roof exposure — 243 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 1 job
- Illustrative work
- ~$15K
Close just 0.5% of the 243 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 $51 on top of the $150 plan.
Iowa City hail history
Other storms in Iowa City.
12 recorded storm days in Iowa City, IA
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Aug 11, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Aug 7, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Jul 8, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Jul 3, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Jun 17, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Jun 10, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
1 ground report Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Apr 14, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
5 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Mar 31, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Mar 15, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa City / IA
Mar 10, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
10 ground reports Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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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 12, 2026.