Hail size 1"
2 WSW Johnston Polk County
“Trained spotter sent a picture of a hail stone 1 inch in diameter. (DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Johnston Apr 15, 2026
The radar-estimated size surface caught this storm, reaching 0.5" aloft. NEXRAD logged no point detections over Johnston this day.
Largest hailstone
0.5"
≈ pea to penny · radar-estimated size aloft Homes in the hail footprint
3,069
Ground reports
1
1 hailThe 6th most severe storm Johnston has seen in the last 12 months
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
2.7 /10
- Hail size
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 70 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /100
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
How Johnston 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-estimated hail size
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
0.5"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 15, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Johnston, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Apr 15, 2026 sits in Johnston's hail record
This was Johnston's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 16 days after the Mar 30, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 6th of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Johnston at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 15, 2026 convective day was bigger than Johnston: the same system put hail over 425 other tracked cities, 127 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Ankeny (5 miles east, up to 0.5"); West Des Moines (9 miles southwest, up to 0.5"); Bondurant (10 miles east, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills from Johnston's Apr 15, 2026 storm. In the Overview app the same surfaces are live — radar updating in real time, radar-estimated hail size as it forms, and NWS spotter reports pinned where they're filed — with a radar replay you can scrub back over any past day.
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.
Hail reports
1 reportWhat 0.5" hail means for Johnston roofs
Hail under three-quarters of an inch stays below the National Weather Service severe threshold and rarely breaks shingles outright. But repeated small-hail events accelerate granule loss and shorten roof life — on older roofs, it's still worth a conversation.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$37M
Potential roof exposure — 3,069 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
15 jobs
Illustrative work
~$225K
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.
Track hail over Johnston on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Johnston storm history — this Apr 15, 2026 storm included — sits underneath. When you're ready, draw this storm's footprint and pull highly accurate homeowner contact information for every address inside it.
Highly accurate contact information starting at $0.23 per address — every contact included. Digital leads cost $15–$40. Start with a 7-day free trial — no credit card required. See pricing
Johnston hail history
← All hail in Johnston 7 recorded storm days in Johnston, IA
Other storms in Johnston
Jul 20, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
1
ground report 
Jun 11, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 10, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
2
ground reports 
Mar 6, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed
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 surfaces are detections and estimates,
not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.