Hail in Blue Rapids · Aug 18, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 1.25" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Blue Rapids that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
Convective day · Aug 18, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 5th most severe storm Blue Rapids 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
- 31 /100
- Homes exposed
- 55 /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 Blue Rapids saw the hail — from two instruments
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.
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.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Aug 18, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Blue Rapids, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Aug 18, 2026 sits in Blue Rapids's hail record.
This was Blue Rapids's 14th recorded hail day, arriving 4 days after the Aug 14, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 5th of the 14 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Blue Rapids at 1.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Aug 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Blue Rapids: the same system put hail over 309 other tracked cities, 47 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Frankfort (9 miles northeast, up to 1"); Waterville (9 miles southwest, up to 1"); Olsburg (11 miles south, up to 1.25").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 14 Blue Rapids 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.
Nobody on the ground filed a report over Blue Rapids for this date, which says more about who was watching than about the storm: spotter reports only exist where there is an observer. The radar surfaces above carry the evidence for this one.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1.25" hail means for Blue Rapids 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
$6.4M
Potential roof exposure — 530 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 3 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$45K
Close just 0.5% of the 530 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 $111 on top of the $150 plan.
Blue Rapids hail history
Other storms in Blue Rapids.
Estimated-size surface Aug 14, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 8, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 13, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 4, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface May 29, 2026
Estimated-size surface May 18, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 17, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface May 16, 2026
Estimated-size surface Apr 23, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Apr 9, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Mar 5, 2026
1"Take your next area into the field.
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