Hail in Clay Center May 17, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 5 hail signatures up to 1", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.75" aloft.
1"
≈ quarter · the largest NEXRAD radar signature79
0
none filedThe 11th most severe storm Clay Center has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 38 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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 Clay Center 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.
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.
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.
Where May 17, 2026 sits in Clay Center's hail record
This was Clay Center's 8th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the May 16, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 11th of the 16 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Clay Center at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Clay Center: the same system put hail over 894 other tracked cities, 134 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Wakefield (11 miles south, up to 1"); Morganville (11 miles north, up to 1"); Longford (12 miles southwest, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Clay Center's May 17, 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.
For this storm over Clay Center, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.
What 1" hail means for Clay Center roofs
Quarter-size and larger hail is where asphalt shingle damage starts in earnest: bruised mats and granule loss that homeowners can't see from the ground. Most people inside the footprint won't know their roof was hit until someone inspects it.
$948K
Potential roof exposure — 79 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Track hail over Clay Center on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Clay Center storm history — this May 17, 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
16 recorded storm days in Clay Center, KS
Other storms in Clay Center
Jul 30, 2026
1"
Jul 27, 2026
1"
Jul 3, 2026
1.75"
Jun 13, 2026
1.5"
Jun 8, 2026
1"
Jun 4, 2026
1.5"
May 29, 2026
1.75"
May 18, 2026
3.5"
May 16, 2026
May 14, 2026
2.5"
Apr 26, 2026
1"
Apr 25, 2026
1.75"
Apr 10, 2026
0.75"
Mar 6, 2026
1.25"
Mar 5, 2026
1"