/ Storm field report · Polk

Hail in Johnston · Mar 30, 2026

NEXRAD logged 2 hail signatures up to 1"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.

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Peak hail signal 1" ≈ quarter · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 644
Ground reports 2 2 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size

Convective day · Mar 30, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The 3rd most severe storm Johnston has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 3.4 / 10
Storm severity score

Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.

3.4 /10
Peak hail signal
25 /100

Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.

Homes exposed
56 /100

How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.

Ground truth
33 /100

Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.

Evidence / storm surfaces

How Johnston saw the hail — from two instruments

Mar 30, 2026 · Johnston, IA

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.

NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Johnston, IA on Mar 30, 2026 Radar signature field

Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.

Max size 1" Detections 2
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Johnston, IA on Mar 30, 2026 Estimated size field

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.

Max size 1"

The storm in context

Where Mar 30, 2026 sits in Johnston's hail record.

This was Johnston's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 24 days after the Mar 6, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 3rd of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Johnston at 1" — radar-estimated size aloft.

The Mar 30, 2026 convective day was bigger than Johnston: the same system put hail over 313 other tracked cities, 78 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Ankeny (5 miles east, up to 1"); Grimes (5 miles west, up to 1"); Des Moines (7 miles south, up to 1").

These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 8 Johnston 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.

Hail reports

2 reports
Hail size 1"
2 NNE Windsor Heights Polk County

“(DMX)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
2 W Ankeny Polk County

“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (DMX)”

— 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.

Hail was reported over 29 minutes, from to .

Reports came from Windsor Heights and Ankeny — beyond Johnston itself.

Damage-capable hail signal

What 1" hail means for Johnston roofs.

Quarter-size and larger hail can bruise asphalt mats, remove granules, and dent exposed soft metal. The mapped footprint identifies an inspection priority area — it does not identify which individual roofs, if any, sustained damage.

Radar reading · not confirmed damage

Roofing exposure

What this storm is worth to a roofer.

644 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$7.7M

Potential roof exposure — 644 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs
3 jobs
Illustrative work
~$45K

Close just 0.5% of the 644 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

March 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around March 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 $135 on top of the $150 plan.

Johnston hail history

8 recorded storm days in Johnston, IA

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 Sep 9, 2026.