Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 34 hail signatures up to 2.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.25" aloft. At 2.75" — baseball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm — see the ground reports below.
2.75"
≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature1,682
3
1 wind · 2 tornadoOverview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
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.
This was Pearl City's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 3 days after the Apr 14, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 4 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Pearl City at 2.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Pearl City: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 101 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Kent (6 miles northwest, up to 2.75"); Lena (11 miles north, up to 2.75"); Freeport (12 miles northeast, up to 2.5").
These maps are stills from Pearl City's Apr 17, 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.
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.
“A high-end EF2... possible multi-vortex... tornado with estimated peak winds around 130 mph started along Highway 20... SW of Lena IL... and tracked through Lena before (DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
“Corrects tornado start time from 3 NNE Kent. A high-end EF2... possible multi-vortex... tornado with estimated peak winds around 130 mph started along Highway 20... SW (DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
“(DVN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail was reported over 176 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Loran and Kent — beyond Pearl City itself.
Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.
$20M
Potential roof exposure — 1,682 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Pearl City storm history — this Apr 17, 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
4 recorded storm days in Pearl City, IL
