Tornado Rating unknown
3 S Waterville Marshall County
“Multiple storm chasers confirm a tornado on the ground south of Waterville via social media. (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Blue Rapids May 18, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 42 hail signatures up to 1.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.25" aloft.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm — see the ground reports below.
Largest hailstone
1.75"
≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
320
Ground reports
2
2 tornadoThe most severe storm Blue Rapids 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.
4.9 /10
- Hail size
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 50 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Blue Rapids 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.
NEXRAD radar signatures
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.
Max size
1.75"
Detections
42
Radar-estimated hail size
Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
1.25"
Where May 18, 2026 sits in Blue Rapids's hail record
This was Blue Rapids's 6th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the May 17, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 11 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Blue Rapids at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Blue Rapids: the same system put hail over 726 other tracked cities, 258 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Waterville (5 miles west, up to 2.5"); Frankfort (11 miles east, up to 2.25"); Randolph (11 miles south, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills from Blue Rapids's May 18, 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.
Tornado reports
2 reports Tornado Rating unknown
1 ENE Blue Rapids Marshall County
“Confirmation of a tornado. (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm 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
Hail was reported over 12 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Waterville — beyond Blue Rapids itself.
What 1.75" hail means for Blue Rapids roofs
At an inch and a half, hail cracks shingles, strips granules down to the mat, and dents gutters, vents, and siding. A footprint like this typically produces a wave of insurance claims — and the contractor who reaches the homeowner first usually gets the inspection.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$3.8M
Potential roof exposure — 320 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
2 jobs
Illustrative work
~$30K
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.
Track hail over Blue Rapids on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Blue Rapids storm history — this May 18, 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
Blue Rapids hail history
← All hail in Blue Rapids 11 recorded storm days in Blue Rapids, KS
Other storms in Blue Rapids
Jul 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
1
ground report 
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 13, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 4, 2026
0.5" Signatures 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
May 29, 2026
May 17, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed 
May 16, 2026
Apr 23, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 9, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Mar 5, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed
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.