Storm report · Iroquois

Hail in Watseka Apr 13, 2026

Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 1 hail signature up to 1.25", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.5" aloft.

Largest hailstone

1.25"

≈ half-dollar · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint

18

Ground reports

0

none filed
Severity

The 3rd most severe storm Watseka has seen in the last 12 months

Storm severity score

Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.

2.5 /10
Hail size
31 /100

Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.

Homes exposed
26 /100

How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.

Ground truth
0 /100

Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.

Two ways to read the storm

How Watseka 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.

NEXRAD radar signatures
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Watseka, IL on Apr 13, 2026

Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.

Max size 1.25" Detections 1
Radar-estimated hail size
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Watseka, IL on Apr 13, 2026

The modeled maximum hail size across the swath, derived from radar aloft — the largest stone the storm could have supported, which is not necessarily what reached the ground.

Max size 0.5"
The storm in context

Where Apr 13, 2026 sits in Watseka's hail record

This was Watseka's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 18 days after the Mar 26, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 3rd of the 3 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Watseka at 1.25" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Apr 13, 2026 convective day was bigger than Watseka: the same system put hail over 467 other tracked cities, 49 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Martinton (11 miles north, up to 1.25"); Donovan (13 miles northeast, up to 1"); Saint Anne (17 miles north, up to 1.75").

These maps are stills from Watseka's Apr 13, 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.

Ground reports

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 Watseka 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.

Shingle-bruising hail

What 1.25" hail means for Watseka 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.

What this storm is worth to a roofer

$216K

Potential roof exposure — 18 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
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.

Track hail over Watseka on the live map

Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Watseka storm history — this Apr 13, 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

Watseka hail history

3 recorded storm days in Watseka, IL

← All hail in Watseka

Other storms in Watseka

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 surfaces are detections and estimates, not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.