Hail size 1.25"
2 N West Chicago DuPage County
“Video shared on social media shows hail of quarter to half dollar sized hail near the DuPage Airport. Time estimated via radar. (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in West Chicago Mar 30, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 1", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.75" aloft.
Largest hailstone
1"
≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
16,892
Ground reports
1
1 hailThe 3rd most severe storm West Chicago 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.
3.9 /10
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 85 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /100
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
How West Chicago saw the hail — from two instruments
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 radar signatures
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.
Max size
1"
Detections
0
Radar-estimated hail size
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.
Max size
0.75"
Where Mar 30, 2026 sits in West Chicago's hail record
This was West Chicago's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 3rd of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over West Chicago at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Mar 30, 2026 convective day was bigger than West Chicago: the same system put hail over 313 other tracked cities, 70 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Carol Stream (5 miles east, up to 1.75"); Saint Charles (5 miles west, up to 1"); Naperville (7 miles south, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills from West Chicago's Mar 30, 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.
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.
Hail reports
1 reportWhat 1" hail means for West Chicago 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
$203M
Potential roof exposure — 16,892 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
84 jobs
Illustrative work
~$1.3M
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around March 2028 — the window to reach these homeowners while it's still open. Deadlines vary by policy and state.
Track hail over West Chicago on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full West Chicago storm history — this Mar 30, 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
West Chicago hail history
← All hail in West Chicago 7 recorded storm days in West Chicago, IL
Other storms in West Chicago
Jul 27, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 3, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 2, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 10, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
May 4, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 14, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
1
ground report
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.