Hail in Golden Gate Jan 8, 2026
NEXRAD caught this storm: 0 hail signatures up to 1". The radar-estimated size surface had no signal to model this day.
1"
≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature0
0
none filedThe 3rd most severe storm Golden Gate 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
- 0 /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 Golden Gate saw the hail — from two instruments
The maps here read the same storm from two angles — point detections from NEXRAD, and modeled hail size aloft. Where the two disagree is informative: it marks where estimated size outran the signatures, or trailed them.
Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.
Only the NEXRAD radar-signature surface resolved for Jan 8, 2026 — the estimated-size swath had no hail signal to model for this storm, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Jan 8, 2026 sits in Golden Gate's hail record
This was Golden Gate's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 3rd of the 3 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Golden Gate at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jan 8, 2026 convective day was bigger than Golden Gate: the same system put hail over 35 other tracked cities, 10 of them in Illinois. Nearest: West Salem (9 miles northeast, up to 1"); Olney (15 miles north, up to 2.5"); Ingraham (28 miles north, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Golden Gate's Jan 8, 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 Golden Gate 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 Golden Gate 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.
Track hail over Golden Gate on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Golden Gate storm history — this Jan 8, 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
3 recorded storm days in Golden Gate, IL
