NEXRAD logged 43 hail signatures up to 1.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 0.75" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm. The ground reports below show where it was filed.
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Convective day · May 18, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
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
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.
Radar signature field 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.
Estimated size field 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.
The storm in context
This was Bern's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the May 17, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Bern at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Bern: the same system put hail over 726 other tracked cities, 258 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Seneca (9 miles northwest, up to 1.5"); Sabetha (11 miles east, up to 1.75"); Baileyville (11 miles west, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 Bern 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
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.
“At approximately 4:55 PM... a tornado developed near the Nebraska/Kansas border just west of 639 Boulevard... damaging some trees. It continued northeast... crossing 63 (OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
Reports came from Salem — beyond Bern itself.
High damage potential
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
Potential roof exposure
$11M
Potential roof exposure — 876 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Close just 0.5% of the 876 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
May 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around May 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 $184 on top of the $150 plan.
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Estimated-size surface Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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