Hail in Lake City · May 17, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 1"; the estimated-size surface had no signal that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Convective day · May 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 6th most severe storm Lake City 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
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 0 /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 Lake City saw the hail — from two instruments
Two instruments, one storm: NEXRAD logs the point signatures it detected overhead, while the estimated-size surface models how large the hail aloft could have grown. Agreement between them is not guaranteed — the gaps are where the model ran ahead of, or behind, the detections.
Radar signature field NEXRAD's hail signatures for this storm: the spots the radar detected from above. A detection overhead is not the same thing as a confirmed stone below.
Only the NEXRAD radar-signature surface resolved for May 17, 2026 — the estimated-size swath had no hail signal to model for this storm, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where May 17, 2026 sits in Lake City's hail record.
This was Lake City's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 2 days after the May 15, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 6th of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Lake City at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lake City: the same system put hail over 894 other tracked cities, 139 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Carroll (8 miles southwest, up to 1.25"); Rockwell City (14 miles north, up to 1"); Scranton (17 miles southeast, up to 0").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 8 Lake 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
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.
For this storm over Lake City, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for Lake City 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
Lake City hail history
Other storms in Lake City.
Estimated-size surface Sep 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
1"
NEXRAD surface May 15, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Apr 23, 2026
2.5"
Estimated-size surface Apr 15, 2026
0.5"
NEXRAD surface Mar 5, 2026
1"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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