Tornado Rating unknown
3 SSE Shirland Winnebago County
“Trained spotter reports tornado on the ground just southeast of Harrison. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Winnebago
Hail in Rockton · Apr 17, 2026
NEXRAD logged 10 hail signatures up to 2.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.75" aloft. At 2.75" — baseball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm. The ground reports below show where it was filed.
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Peak hail signal 2.75" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 508
Ground reports 4 4 tornado
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Apr 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Rockton has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 7.0 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
7.0 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 69 /100
- Homes exposed
- 54 /100
- Ground truth
- 100 /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 Rockton saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 17, 2026 · Rockton, 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
2.75"
Detections
10
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
1.75"
The storm in context
Where Apr 17, 2026 sits in Rockton's hail record.
This was Rockton's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 3 days after the Apr 14, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 6 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rockton at 2.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rockton: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 101 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Rockford (5 miles east, up to 2.5"); Durand (5 miles west, up to 2.5"); Brodhead (9 miles northwest, up to 4").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 6 Rockton 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
4 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.
Tornado reports
4 reports Tornado Rating unknown
4 S Shirland Winnebago County
“An NWS damage survey confirmed than a high-end EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 110 mph... path length of 3.74 miles... and maximum width of 125 yards damaged trees and (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Tornado Rating unknown
3 SE Shirland Winnebago County
“An NWS Damage survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 95 mph... path length of 11.2 miles... and maximum width of 350 yards damaged trees and buildings incl (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Tornado Rating unknown
3 ESE Shirland Winnebago County
“Multiple photos and videos shared via social media show tornado on the ground between Harrison and Rockton. (LOT)”
— 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.
Hail was reported over 124 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Shirland — beyond Rockton itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2.75" hail means for Rockton 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.
508 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$6.1M
Potential roof exposure — 508 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 3 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$45K
Close just 0.5% of the 508 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
April 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around April 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 $107 on top of the $150 plan.
Rockton hail history
Other storms in Rockton.
6 recorded storm days in Rockton, IL
Estimated-size surface Storm date Rockton / IL
Aug 21, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Rockton / IL
Jul 3, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Rockton / IL
Apr 14, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Rockton / IL
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Rockton / IL
Mar 10, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
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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.