Hail size 1"
2 SSW Hord Clay County
“(ILX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Clay
Hail in Louisville · May 4, 2026
NEXRAD logged 3 hail signatures up to 1.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.25" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Peak hail signal 1.75" ≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 194
Ground reports 2 2 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · May 4, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Louisville has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 4.3 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
4.3 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 46 /100
- Ground truth
- 33 /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 Louisville saw the hail — from two instruments
May 4, 2026 · Louisville, 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.
NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
Radar signature field NEXRAD radar signatures — the point detections the storm produced overhead. A signature is where the radar saw hail, not a confirmed stone on the ground.
Max size
1.75"
Detections
3
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
1.25"
The storm in context
Where May 4, 2026 sits in Louisville's hail record.
This was Louisville's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 7 days after the Apr 27, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Louisville at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 4, 2026 convective day was bigger than Louisville: the same system put hail over 428 other tracked cities, 239 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Farina (8 miles west, up to 1.75"); Kinmundy (14 miles west, up to 1.75"); Vandalia (25 miles west, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 Louisville 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
2 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
2 reports Hail size 1.25"
4 SSE Hord Clay County
“Via Broadcast Media. (ILX)”
— 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 Hord — beyond Louisville itself.
High damage potential
What 1.75" hail means for Louisville roofs.
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
194 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$2.3M
Potential roof exposure — 194 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 1 job
- Illustrative work
- ~$15K
Close just 0.5% of the 194 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
May 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around May 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 $41 on top of the $150 plan.
Louisville hail history
Other storms in Louisville.
9 recorded storm days in Louisville, IL
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Jul 26, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Jul 3, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Jun 25, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Jun 11, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
May 16, 2026
2" Signatures 2" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Louisville / IL
May 15, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Apr 27, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Louisville / IL
Mar 4, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
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 3, 2026.