Hail size 1"
3 NW Carol Stream DuPage County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in West Chicago Apr 14, 2026
The radar-estimated size surface caught this storm, reaching 1" aloft. NEXRAD logged no point detections over West Chicago this day.
Largest hailstone
1"
≈ quarter · radar-estimated size aloft Homes in the hail footprint
15,627
Ground reports
1
1 hailThe 4th 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.
3.8 /10
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 84 /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
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.
Radar-estimated hail size
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"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 14, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over West Chicago, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Apr 14, 2026 sits in West Chicago's hail record
This was West Chicago's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 15 days after the Mar 30, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 4th of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over West Chicago at 1" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than West Chicago: the same system put hail over 476 other tracked cities, 44 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Bartlett (7 miles north, up to 1"); South Elgin (9 miles northwest, up to 1"); Elk Grove Village (12 miles northeast, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills from West Chicago's Apr 14, 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 report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports,
not a radar-measured storm track.
How the storm moved
Reports came from Carol Stream — beyond West Chicago itself.
What 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
$188M
Potential roof exposure — 15,627 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
78 jobs
Illustrative work
~$1.2M
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 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 Apr 14, 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 
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
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.