Hail size 1.75"
1 WSW Red Oak Montgomery County
“Emergency manager reports golf ball size hail just outside of Red Oak to the southwest. (OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Page
Hail in Red Oak · May 16, 2026
NEXRAD logged 31 hail signatures up to 3.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 2.25" aloft. At 3.75" — baseball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 3.75" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 1,378
Ground reports 5 5 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · May 16, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Red Oak has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 8.4 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
8.4 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 94 /100
- Homes exposed
- 63 /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 Red Oak saw the hail — from two instruments
May 16, 2026 · Red Oak, 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
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
3.75"
Detections
31
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
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
2.25"
The storm in context
Where May 16, 2026 sits in Red Oak's hail record.
This was Red Oak's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the May 15, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 17 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Red Oak at 3.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 16, 2026 convective day was bigger than Red Oak: the same system put hail over 711 other tracked cities, 64 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Stanton (9 miles northeast, up to 2.5"); Villisca (10 miles east, up to 2.5"); Clarinda (13 miles southeast, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 17 Red Oak 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 2.75"
3 S Red Oak Montgomery County
“Report from mPING: Baseball (2.75 in.). (OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
Red Oak Montgomery County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
Red Oak Montgomery County
“(OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 2"
3 ESE Red Oak Montgomery County
“Storm chaser shared photos of measured two inch hailstones. (OAX)”
— 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 12 minutes, from to .
Severe hail signal
What 3.75" hail means for Red Oak roofs.
Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
1,378 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$17M
Potential roof exposure — 1,378 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 7 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$105K
Close just 0.5% of the 1,378 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
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 $289 on top of the $150 plan.
Red Oak hail history
Other storms in Red Oak.
17 recorded storm days in Red Oak, IA
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Sep 6, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Aug 8, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Aug 4, 2026
2" Estimated 2"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jul 2, 2026
0.5" Signatures 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jun 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jun 13, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jun 10, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
8 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jun 6, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Jun 5, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
1 ground report Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
May 31, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
May 18, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
May 17, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
May 15, 2026
2.25" Signatures 2.25" Estimated 1"
2 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Apr 14, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Red Oak / IA
Mar 6, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
2 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.
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For iPhone. Android coming soon.
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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 7, 2026.