Wind gust 72 mph
Midway Airport Cook County
“Peak wind gust of 63 kt. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Chicago Jul 3, 2026
Hit 31 days agoBoth radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 53 hail signatures up to 1.5", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.75" aloft.
Largest hailstone
1.5"
≈ ping-pong ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
116,410
Ground reports
5
5 windThe 2nd most severe storm Chicago 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.
6.0 /10
- Hail size
- 38 /100
- Homes exposed
- 100 /100
- Ground truth
- 83 /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 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 radar signatures
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.
Max size
1.5"
Detections
53
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
0.75"
Where Jul 3, 2026 sits in Chicago's hail record
This was Chicago's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the Jul 2, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 6 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Chicago at 1.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jul 3, 2026 convective day was bigger than Chicago: the same system put hail over 1,885 other tracked cities, 215 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Oak Park (6 miles northwest, up to 1"); Berkeley (11 miles west, up to 1.25"); Melrose Park (11 miles west, up to 1.25").
These maps are stills from Chicago's Jul 3, 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.
Wind reports
5 reports Wind gust 67 mph
2 NE Navy Pier LMZ741 County
“Measured at the Harrison Dever Crib. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 64 mph
1 ESE Lakeview - Chicag Cook County
“Peak wind gust of 64 mph measured on a personal weather station. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 66 mph
1 W Navy Pier Cook County
“Peak wind gust of 66.2 mph measured on personal weather station. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 71 mph
2 NNW Chicago Loop Cook County
“Peak wind gust of 71 mph measured on personal weather station. (LOT)”
— 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
Hail was reported over 12 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Midway Airport, Navy Pier, Lakeview - Chicag, and Chicago Loop — beyond Chicago itself.
What 1.5" hail means for Chicago roofs
At an inch and a half, hail cracks shingles, strips granules down to the mat, and dents gutters, vents, and siding. A footprint like this typically produces a wave of insurance claims — and the contractor who reaches the homeowner first usually gets the inspection.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$1.4B
Potential roof exposure — 116,410 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
582 jobs
Illustrative work
~$8.7M
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 Chicago on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Chicago storm history — this Jul 3, 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
Chicago hail history
← All hail in Chicago 6 recorded storm days in Chicago, IL
Other storms in Chicago
Jul 27, 2026
2.75" Estimated 2.75"
15
ground reports 
Jul 2, 2026
Jun 24, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 17, 2026
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
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.