NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 2.5"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.75" 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.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm. The ground reports below show where it was filed.
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Convective day · Apr 26, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
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
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.
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.
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.
The storm in context
This was Columbus's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 11 days after the Apr 15, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 8 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Columbus at 2.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 26, 2026 convective day was bigger than Columbus: the same system put hail over 710 other tracked cities, 277 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Chetopa (4 miles southwest, up to 1.75"); Cherokee (11 miles north, up to 2.5"); Oswego (13 miles northwest, up to 2.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 8 Columbus 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
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.
“Rating EF1. Estimated peak wind 105 miles. Path Length 4.37 miles. Path width 500 yards. Several trees uprooted or snapped... empty rail cars overturned... grain bins s (SGF)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
Reports came from Hallowell — beyond Columbus itself.
Severe hail signal
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
Potential roof exposure
$67M
Potential roof exposure — 5,584 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Close just 0.5% of the 5,584 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 $1,173 on top of the $150 plan.
Columbus hail history
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Estimated-size surface Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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