Hail size 1.25"
Clay Center Clay County
“(TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Ottawa
Hail in Clay Center · May 14, 2026
NEXRAD logged 8 hail signatures up to 2.5"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. At 2.5" — baseball — 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 2.5" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 318
Ground reports 5 3 hail · 2 wind
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · May 14, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Clay Center has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 6.3 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
6.3 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 63 /100
- Homes exposed
- 50 /100
- Ground truth
- 83 /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 Clay Center saw the hail — from two instruments
May 14, 2026 · Clay Center, KS
We map this storm two ways: the NEXRAD radar signatures the storm produced overhead, and the radar-estimated size of the hail in the air. The two surfaces don’t have to match — where they diverge is where estimated size aloft ran ahead of, or behind, what the signatures caught.
NEXRAD radar signatures Surface resolved
Radar signature field NEXRAD radar signatures — the point detections the storm produced overhead. A signature is where the radar saw hail, not a confirmed stone on the ground.
Max size
2.5"
Detections
8
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.
Max size
1"
The storm in context
Where May 14, 2026 sits in Clay Center's hail record.
This was Clay Center's 6th recorded hail day, arriving 18 days after the Apr 26, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 21 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Clay Center at 2.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than Clay Center: the same system put hail over 61 other tracked cities, 10 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Green (15 miles northeast, up to 2.5"); Leonardville (25 miles east, up to 1.75"); Tescott (37 miles west, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 21 Clay Center 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
5 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
3 reports Hail size 1"
1 NNW Clay Center Clay County
“Spotter reported a couple of hailstones to quarter-size in the storm. (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.5"
1 NNW Clay Center Clay County
“(TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind reports
2 reports Wind gust 60 mph
3 W Clay Center Clay County
“Corrects time for previous tstm wnd gst report from 3 W Clay Center. Delayed social media report. Time estimated radar. (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 60 mph
3 W Clay Center Clay County
“Delayed social media report. Time estimated radar. (TOP)”
— 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 27 minutes, from to .
Severe hail signal
What 2.5" hail means for Clay Center 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.
318 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$3.8M
Potential roof exposure — 318 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 2 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$30K
Close just 0.5% of the 318 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 $67 on top of the $150 plan.
Clay Center hail history
Other storms in Clay Center.
21 recorded storm days in Clay Center, KS
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Sep 19, 2026
1.5" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Sep 12, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Aug 15, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
1 ground report Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Aug 14, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Aug 6, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jul 30, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jul 27, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jul 3, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jun 13, 2026
1.5" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jun 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Jun 4, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
May 29, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
May 18, 2026
3.5" Signatures 3.5" Estimated 2"
7 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
May 17, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
May 16, 2026
1 ground report Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Apr 26, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Apr 25, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Apr 10, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Mar 6, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Clay Center / KS
Mar 5, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
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Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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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 Sep 20, 2026.