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
/ Storm field report · Dallas
Hail in West Des Moines · Apr 15, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 0.5" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over West Des Moines that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 0.5" ≈ pea to penny · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 6,630
Ground reports 1 1 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Apr 15, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 9th most severe storm West Des Moines has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 2.9 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
2.9 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 76 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /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 West Des Moines saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 15, 2026 · West Des Moines, IA
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
0.5"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 15, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over West Des Moines, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Apr 15, 2026 sits in West Des Moines's hail record.
This was West Des Moines's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 16 days after the Mar 30, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 9th of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over West Des Moines at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 15, 2026 convective day was bigger than West Des Moines: the same system put hail over 425 other tracked cities, 127 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Johnston (9 miles northeast, up to 0.5"); Ankeny (12 miles northeast, up to 0.5"); Woodward (15 miles north, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 West Des Moines 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
1 report 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
1 reportStorm 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.
Reports came from Johnston — beyond West Des Moines itself.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for West Des Moines 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.
6,630 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$80M
Potential roof exposure — 6,630 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 33 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$495K
Close just 0.5% of the 6,630 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
April 2028
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.
Names and phones for every home in the footprint: at most $1,392 on top of the $150 plan.
West Des Moines hail history
Other storms in West Des Moines.
9 recorded storm days in West Des Moines, IA
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Sep 8, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Jul 20, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
2 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Jul 2, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Jun 11, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
May 18, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Des Moines / IA
Mar 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
2 ground reports Open report →
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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 9, 2026.