Hail size 1"
2 NW Iowa City Johnson County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Johnson
Hail in Iowa City · Apr 14, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 0.5" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Iowa City that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Peak hail signal 0.5" ≈ pea to penny · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 113
Ground reports 5 5 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Apr 14, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 8th most severe storm Iowa City has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 3.0 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
3.0 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 41 /100
- Ground truth
- 83 /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 14, 2026 · Iowa City, IA
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
0.5"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 14, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Iowa City, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Apr 14, 2026 sits in Iowa City's hail record.
This was Iowa City's 6th recorded hail day, arriving 12 days after the Apr 2, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 8th of the 12 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Iowa City at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than Iowa City: the same system put hail over 476 other tracked cities, 143 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Cedar Rapids (22 miles northwest, up to 1"); Marion (24 miles north, up to 1"); Fairfax (25 miles northwest, up to 0.75").
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
5 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
5 reports Hail size 1.5"
Iowa City Johnson County
“Time estimated from radar. (DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
1 NNE Iowa City Johnson County
“(DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.25"
1 W Iowa City Johnson County
“(DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.25"
1 NE University Heights Johnson County
“Report from mPING: Half Dollar (1.25 in.). (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 University Heights — beyond Iowa City itself.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Iowa City 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.
113 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$1.4M
Potential roof exposure — 113 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 113 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 $24 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 2, 2026
3" Signatures 3" Estimated 1.25"
2 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.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
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.