Hail in Spirit Lake · Aug 18, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface reached 0.5" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Convective day · Aug 18, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 13th most severe storm Spirit Lake 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
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 49 /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 Spirit Lake 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 signature field NEXRAD radar signatures — the point detections the storm produced overhead. A signature is where the radar saw hail, not a confirmed stone on the ground.
Estimated size field Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.
The storm in context
Where Aug 18, 2026 sits in Spirit Lake's hail record.
This was Spirit Lake's 16th recorded hail day, arriving 9 days after the Aug 9, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 13th of the 18 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Spirit Lake at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Aug 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Spirit Lake: the same system put hail over 309 other tracked cities, 8 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Terril (13 miles southeast, up to 0.75"); Estherville (13 miles east, up to 0.5"); Dunnell (16 miles northeast, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 18 Spirit Lake 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.
The National Weather Service logged no spotter reports for this storm over Spirit Lake. That absence is ordinary — filing a report takes a person on the spot who saw the hail and phoned it in. What stands as the record for this date is the radar above, which caught the storm regardless.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Spirit Lake roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$3.4M
Potential roof exposure — 286 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 1 job
- Illustrative work
- ~$15K
Close just 0.5% of the 286 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
August 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $60 on top of the $150 plan.
Spirit Lake hail history
Other storms in Spirit Lake.
Estimated-size surface Sep 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Sep 3, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 9, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 8, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 7, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 4, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface Jul 1, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 30, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jun 29, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 27, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 9, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface May 25, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 18, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 17, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 15, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Apr 13, 2026
1.25"Take your next area into the field.
See the hail, review your recommendations, and canvass with Overview on iPhone.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.