Hail in West Chicago · Aug 9, 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.
Convective day · Aug 9, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 5th most severe storm West Chicago has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Peak hail signal
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 90 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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
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.
Estimated size field 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.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Aug 9, 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 Aug 9, 2026 sits in West Chicago's hail record.
This was West Chicago's 8th recorded hail day, arriving 13 days after the Jul 27, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 5th 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 Aug 9, 2026 convective day was bigger than West Chicago: the same system put hail over 453 other tracked cities, 69 of them in Illinois. Nearest: Carol Stream (5 miles east, up to 1"); Saint Charles (5 miles west, up to 0.75"); Bartlett (7 miles north, up to 1").
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
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.
For this storm over West Chicago, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.
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.
Potential roof exposure
$364M
Potential roof exposure — 30,372 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 152 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$2.3M
Close just 0.5% of the 30,372 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
August 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $6,378 on top of the $150 plan.
West Chicago hail history
Other storms in West Chicago.
Estimated-size surface Jul 27, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 10, 2026
0.5"
NEXRAD surface May 4, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Apr 14, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Mar 30, 2026
1"Take your next area into the field.
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