Hail size 2.5"
Highland Madison County
“Picture of tennis ball size hail relayed from a viewer of WCIA. (LSX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Madison
Hail in Highland · Aug 21, 2026
Hit 24 days ago
The estimated-size surface reached 2.25" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Highland that day. At 2.25" — tennis ball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 2.25" ≈ tennis ball · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 6,989
Ground reports 3 3 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Aug 21, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Highland has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 6.0 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
6.0 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 56 /100
- Homes exposed
- 77 /100
- Ground truth
- 50 /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 Highland saw the hail — from two instruments
Aug 21, 2026 · Highland, IL
We map this storm two ways: the NEXRAD radar signatures the storm produced overhead, and the radar-estimated size of the hail in the air. The two surfaces don’t have to match — where they diverge is where estimated size aloft ran ahead of, or behind, what the signatures caught.
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.
Max size
2.25"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Aug 21, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Highland, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Aug 21, 2026 sits in Highland's hail record.
This was Highland's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 58 days after the Jun 24, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 4 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Highland at 2.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Aug 21, 2026 convective day was bigger than Highland: the same system put hail over 659 other tracked cities, 93 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Alhambra (11 miles north, up to 2.25"); New Douglas (17 miles north, up to 2"); Staunton (19 miles northwest, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 4 Highland 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
3 reports 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
3 reports Hail size 1.75"
3 SE Grantfork Madison County
“(LSX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.5"
Grantfork Madison County
“(LSX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm 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 Grantfork — beyond Highland itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2.25" hail means for Highland roofs.
Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
6,989 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$84M
Potential roof exposure — 6,989 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 35 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$525K
Close just 0.5% of the 6,989 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
August 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $1,468 on top of the $150 plan.
Highland hail history
Other storms in Highland.
4 recorded storm days in Highland, IL
Estimated-size surface Storm date Highland / IL
Jun 24, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Highland / IL
May 31, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Highland / IL
Apr 27, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Take your next area into the field.
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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 Aug 22, 2026.