Hail in Jefferson · May 15, 2026
Convective day · May 15, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 6th most severe storm Jefferson 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
- 37 /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 Jefferson saw the hail — from two instruments
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 signature field The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
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.
The storm in context
Where May 15, 2026 sits in Jefferson's hail record.
This was Jefferson's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 22 days after the Apr 23, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 6th of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Jefferson at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 15, 2026 convective day was bigger than Jefferson: the same system put hail over 444 other tracked cities, 236 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Bagley (6 miles southwest, up to 1"); Yale (10 miles south, up to 1"); Bayard (12 miles southwest, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 8 Jefferson 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.
Nobody on the ground filed a report over Jefferson for this date, which says more about who was watching than about the storm: spotter reports only exist where there is an observer. The radar surfaces above carry the evidence for this one.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Jefferson 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
$828K
Potential roof exposure — 69 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 $14 on top of the $150 plan.
Jefferson hail history
Other storms in Jefferson.
Estimated-size surface Jul 20, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 28, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 1, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface Apr 23, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Apr 15, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Mar 5, 2026
1"The next storm won’t wait for you.
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