Hail size 1"
West Des Moines Polk County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in West Des Moines Jul 20, 2026
Hit 14 days agoThe radar-estimated size surface caught this storm, reaching 1.25" aloft. NEXRAD logged no point detections over West Des Moines this day.
Largest hailstone
1.25"
≈ half-dollar · radar-estimated size aloft Homes in the hail footprint
34,864
Ground reports
2
2 hailThe 2nd most severe storm West Des Moines has seen in the last 12 months
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
4.6 /10
- Hail size
- 31 /100
- Homes exposed
- 91 /100
- Ground truth
- 33 /100
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
How West Des Moines 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-estimated hail size
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
1.25"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Jul 20, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over West Des Moines, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Jul 20, 2026 sits in West Des Moines's hail record
This was West Des Moines's 8th recorded hail day, arriving 17 days after the Jul 3, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over West Des Moines at 1.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Jul 20, 2026 convective day was bigger than West Des Moines: the same system put hail over 553 other tracked cities, 178 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Des Moines (5 miles east, up to 1.5"); Waukee (5 miles west, up to 1.75"); Grimes (7 miles north, up to 2").
These maps are stills from West Des Moines's Jul 20, 2026 storm. In the Overview app the same surfaces are live — radar updating in real time, radar-estimated hail size as it forms, and NWS spotter reports pinned where they're filed — with a radar replay you can scrub back over any past day.
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.
Hail reports
2 reports Hail size 1"
2 SE Waukee Dallas County
“(DMX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports,
not a radar-measured storm track.
How the storm moved
Reports came from Waukee — beyond West Des Moines itself.
What 1.25" hail means for West Des Moines roofs
Quarter-size and larger hail is where asphalt shingle damage starts in earnest: bruised mats and granule loss that homeowners can't see from the ground. Most people inside the footprint won't know their roof was hit until someone inspects it.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$418M
Potential roof exposure — 34,864 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
174 jobs
Illustrative work
~$2.6M
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.
Track hail over West Des Moines on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full West Des Moines storm history — this Jul 20, 2026 storm included — sits underneath. When you're ready, draw this storm's footprint and pull highly accurate homeowner contact information for every address inside it.
Highly accurate contact information starting at $0.23 per address — every contact included. Digital leads cost $15–$40. Start with a 7-day free trial — no credit card required. See pricing
West Des Moines hail history
← All hail in West Des Moines 8 recorded storm days in West Des Moines, IA
Other storms in West Des Moines
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 2, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 11, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 18, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 15, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
1
ground report 
Mar 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
2
ground reports
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 surfaces are detections and estimates,
not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.