/ Storm field report · Butler

Hail in Burns · Apr 17, 2026

NEXRAD logged 68 hail signatures up to 2"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. At 2" — tennis ball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.

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Peak hail signal 2" ≈ tennis ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 551
Ground reports 2 2 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size

Convective day · Apr 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The 2nd most severe storm Burns has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 4.9 / 10
Storm severity score

Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.

4.9 /10
Peak hail signal
50 /100

Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.

Homes exposed
55 /100

How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.

Ground truth
33 /100

Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.

Evidence / storm surfaces

How Burns saw the hail — from two instruments

Apr 17, 2026 · Burns, KS

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.

NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Burns, KS on Apr 17, 2026 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.

Max size 2" Detections 68
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 17, 2026 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.

Max size 1"

The storm in context

Where Apr 17, 2026 sits in Burns's hail record.

This was Burns's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 4 days after the Apr 13, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 18 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Burns at 2" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Burns: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 144 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Potwin (5 miles west, up to 2"); Cassoday (8 miles east, up to 1.75"); Towanda (9 miles southwest, up to 1.75").

These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 18 Burns 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

2 reports filed with the NWS

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.

Hail reports

2 reports
Hail size 1"
Burns Marion County

“(ICT)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
4 N Towanda Butler County

“(ICT)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report

Storm forensics

How the storm moved

Timing and place names from NOAA ground reports

Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.

Hail was reported over 21 minutes, from to .

Reports came from Towanda — beyond Burns itself.

Severe hail signal

What 2" hail means for Burns roofs.

Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.

Radar reading · not confirmed damage

Roofing exposure

What this storm is worth to a roofer.

551 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$6.6M

Potential roof exposure — 551 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 551 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

April 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around April 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 $116 on top of the $150 plan.

Burns hail history

18 recorded storm days in Burns, KS
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Aug 7, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Aug 7, 2026

1.25"
Estimated 1.25"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Aug 6, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Aug 6, 2026

1.5"
Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jul 10, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jul 10, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jul 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jul 4, 2026

0.75"
Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jun 17, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jun 17, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jun 13, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jun 13, 2026

0.5"
Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jun 8, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jun 8, 2026

1"
Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Jun 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Jun 4, 2026

0.5"
Signatures 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on May 30, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

May 30, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on May 29, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

May 29, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on May 18, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

May 18, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 26, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Apr 26, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 23, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Apr 23, 2026

3.25"
Signatures 3.25" Estimated 1.5"
3 ground reports Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 13, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Apr 13, 2026

1.5"
Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 11, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Apr 11, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Apr 3, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Apr 3, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Burns, KS on Mar 10, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Burns / KS

Mar 10, 2026

0.75"
Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →

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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 tells you where to look. Only an inspection confirms damage at an address. Last updated Aug 8, 2026.