Hail size 1"
3 NW Carol Stream DuPage County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (LOT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · DuPage
Hail in West Chicago · Apr 14, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over West Chicago that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 1" ≈ quarter · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 15,627
Ground reports 1 1 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Apr 14, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 4th most severe storm West Chicago has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 3.8 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
3.8 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 84 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /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 West Chicago saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 14, 2026 · West Chicago, 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.
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"
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.
The storm in context
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 8 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. In the app this date is one of 8 West Chicago 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
1 report 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
1 reportStorm 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.
Reports came from Carol Stream — beyond West Chicago itself.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for West Chicago roofs.
Quarter-size and larger hail can bruise asphalt mats, remove granules, and dent exposed soft metal. The mapped footprint identifies an inspection priority area — it does not identify which individual roofs, if any, sustained damage.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
15,627 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$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
Close just 0.5% of the 15,627 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 $3,282 on top of the $150 plan.
West Chicago hail history
Other storms in West Chicago.
8 recorded storm days in West Chicago, IL
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Aug 9, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Jul 27, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Jul 3, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Jul 2, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Jun 10, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
May 4, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date West Chicago / IL
Mar 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
1 ground report Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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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 10, 2026.