Hail in Chicago Heights Mar 31, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 28 hail signatures up to 1", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.5" aloft.
1"
≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature12,159
0
none filedThe 2nd most severe storm Chicago Heights has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 82 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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 Chicago Heights 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.
NEXRAD's hail signatures for this storm: the spots the radar detected from above. A detection overhead is not the same thing as a confirmed stone below.
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.
Where Mar 31, 2026 sits in Chicago Heights's hail record
This was Chicago Heights's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 2 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Chicago Heights at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Mar 31, 2026 convective day was bigger than Chicago Heights: the same system put hail over 522 other tracked cities, 114 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Matteson (5 miles west, up to 1.25"); Beecher (7 miles south, up to 1"); Cedar Lake (9 miles southeast, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Chicago Heights's Mar 31, 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.
Nobody on the ground filed a report over Chicago Heights for this date, which says more about who was watching than about the storm: spotter reports only exist where there is an observer. The radar surfaces above carry the evidence for this one.
What 1" hail means for Chicago Heights 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.
$146M
Potential roof exposure — 12,159 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Track hail over Chicago Heights on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Chicago Heights storm history — this Mar 31, 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
2 recorded storm days in Chicago Heights, IL
