Hail size 1"
2 SSW Colby Thomas County
“Spotter network report of 1.00 inch hail. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Colby May 16, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 16 hail signatures up to 2.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 2.25" aloft. At 2.75" — baseball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
Largest hailstone
2.75"
≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
79
Ground reports
10
1 hail · 9 windThe 2nd most severe storm Colby 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.
6.6 /10
- Hail size
- 69 /100
- Homes exposed
- 38 /100
- Ground truth
- 100 /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 Colby 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 radar signatures
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
2.75"
Detections
16
Radar-estimated hail size
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
2.25"
Where May 16, 2026 sits in Colby's hail record
This was Colby's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 35 days after the Apr 11, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 13 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Colby at 2.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 16, 2026 convective day was bigger than Colby: the same system put hail over 711 other tracked cities, 98 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Rexford (16 miles northeast, up to 2.5"); Brewster (22 miles west, up to 4"); Selden (25 miles northeast, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills from Colby's May 16, 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.
Hail reports
1 reportWind reports
9 reports Wind gust 62 mph
1 NW Colby Thomas County
“My_Weather_Station; AWN. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 85 mph
5 S Colby Thomas County
“Spotter network of wind gusts between 80 and 84 with a few reaching 85. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 62 mph
2 ENE Colby Thomas County
“C0352. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 88 mph
2 ENE Colby Thomas County
“Mesonet station FW6347 Colby 2E. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 59 mph
1 SE Colby Thomas County
“F8773. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 73 mph
1 NE Colby Thomas County
“Ostmeyer_Weather_Station; AWN. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 67 mph
9 N Page City Thomas County
“Summers_646; AWN. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 75 mph
6 SW Mingo Thomas County
“Plummer; AWN. (GLD)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 62 mph
6 SW Mingo Thomas County
“Plummer; AWN. (GLD)”
— 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 15 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Page City and Mingo — beyond Colby itself.
What 2.75" hail means for Colby roofs
Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$948K
Potential roof exposure — 79 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage. 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 Colby on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Colby storm history — this May 16, 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
Colby hail history
← All hail in Colby 13 recorded storm days in Colby, KS
Other storms in Colby
Jul 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 27, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 9, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 2.25"
1
ground report 
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 1, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.5"
3
ground reports 
Jun 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 24, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 21, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
1
ground report 
Jun 20, 2026
2.5" Estimated 2.5"
10
ground reports 
Jun 1, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed 
May 29, 2026
2.25" Signatures 2.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 11, 2026
0.75" Signatures 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.