Hail in Altoona · Mar 5, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface had no signal that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Convective day · Mar 5, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 12th most severe storm Altoona 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
- 0 /100
- Homes exposed
- 0 /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 Altoona saw the hail — from two instruments
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.
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.
Only the NEXRAD radar-signature surface resolved for Mar 5, 2026 — the estimated-size swath had no hail signal to model for this storm, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Mar 5, 2026 sits in Altoona's hail record.
This was Altoona's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 2 days after the Mar 3, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 12th of the 12 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Altoona at 0" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Mar 5, 2026 convective day was bigger than Altoona: the same system put hail over 343 other tracked cities, 110 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Fredonia (13 miles southwest, up to 0"); Yates Center (29 miles north, up to 1"); Virgil (31 miles northwest, up to 1").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 12 Altoona 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.
The National Weather Service logged no spotter reports for this storm over Altoona. That absence is ordinary — filing a report takes a person on the spot who saw the hail and phoned it in. What stands as the record for this date is the radar above, which caught the storm regardless.
Below the severe threshold
What 0" hail means for Altoona roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Altoona hail history
Other storms in Altoona.
Estimated-size surface Sep 12, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 29, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 10, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 16, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 13, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface May 31, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Apr 26, 2026
2.5"
Estimated-size surface Apr 17, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Apr 3, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Mar 31, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Mar 3, 2026
1"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.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.