Hail size 1.25"
Milford Iroquois County
“Photo relayed by social media depicts hail up ranging in size from 1 to 1.25 inches in diameter. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Iroquois
Hail in Watseka · Jul 27, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.75" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 1.75" ≈ golf ball · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 5,923
Ground reports 4 4 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Jul 27, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Watseka has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 5.5 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.5 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 75 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Watseka saw the hail — from two instruments
Jul 27, 2026 · Watseka, IL
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
Radar signature field The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
Max size
0"
Detections
0
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
1.75"
The storm in context
Where Jul 27, 2026 sits in Watseka's hail record.
This was Watseka's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 105 days after the Apr 13, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 5 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Watseka at 1.75" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Jul 27, 2026 convective day was bigger than Watseka: the same system put hail over 803 other tracked cities, 130 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Milford (7 miles south, up to 1.5"); Earl Park (10 miles east, up to 2.5"); Kentland (13 miles northeast, up to 1.25").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 5 Watseka 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.
Hail reports
4 reports Hail size 2.5"
3 W Woodland Iroquois County
“Photo relayed by broadcast media shows hail up to the size of a tennis ball. Time estimated by radar. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 2.75"
Woodland Iroquois County
“Photo relayed via social media shows hailstone slightly larger than a baseball. Time estimated by radar. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.75"
Watseka Iroquois County
“Multiple reports of hail quarter to golf ball size in Watseka. (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 18 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Milford and Woodland — beyond Watseka itself.
High damage potential
What 1.75" hail means for Watseka 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.
5,923 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$71M
Potential roof exposure — 5,923 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 30 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$450K
Close just 0.5% of the 5,923 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
July 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around July 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 $1,244 on top of the $150 plan.
Watseka hail history
Other storms in Watseka.
5 recorded storm days in Watseka, IL
Estimated-size surface Storm date Watseka / IL
Aug 11, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Watseka / IL
Aug 9, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Watseka / IL
Apr 13, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Watseka / IL
Mar 26, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
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 12, 2026.