/ Storm field report · Story

Hail in Roland · Jul 20, 2026

The estimated-size surface reached 2" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Roland that day. At 2" — tennis ball — 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 2" ≈ tennis ball · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 1,701
Ground reports 2 2 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only

Convective day · Jul 20, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The most severe storm Roland has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 5.1 / 10
Storm severity score

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

5.1 /10
Peak hail signal
50 /100

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

Homes exposed
65 /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 Roland saw the hail — from two instruments

Jul 20, 2026 · Roland, IA

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-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Roland, IA on Jul 20, 2026 Estimated size field

Radar-estimated maximum hail size across the swath, modeled from radar aloft. It reflects the biggest stone the storm could support, which may differ from what actually fell.

Max size 2"

Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Jul 20, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Roland, so there is one map to show, not two.

The storm in context

Where Jul 20, 2026 sits in Roland's hail record.

This was Roland's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 18 days after the Jul 2, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 5 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Roland at 2" — radar-estimated size aloft.

The Jul 20, 2026 convective day was bigger than Roland: the same system put hail over 553 other tracked cities, 178 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Radcliffe (7 miles north, up to 1.75"); Ellsworth (9 miles northwest, up to 1.75"); Story City (10 miles west, up to 2").

These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 5 Roland 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 1.75"
4 N Roland Hamilton County

“Golf ball size plus hail. (DMX)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 2.5"
2 NNE Roland Story County

“Between 2 to 2.5 inch hail. Damage to vehicles. (DMX)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report

Severe hail signal

What 2" hail means for Roland 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.

1,701 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$20M

Potential roof exposure — 1,701 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs
9 jobs
Illustrative work
~$135K

Close just 0.5% of the 1,701 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

July 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around July 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 $357 on top of the $150 plan.

Roland hail history

5 recorded storm days in Roland, IA

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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 Aug 3, 2026.