Tornado Rating unknown
3 WSW Sycamore Montgomery County
“tornado confirmed by spotter. (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Elk
Hail in Elk City · Apr 26, 2026
NEXRAD logged 4 hail signatures up to 2.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 2" aloft. At 2.75" — 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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Peak hail signal 2.75" ≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 21
Ground reports 2 2 tornado
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Apr 26, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Elk City has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 5.8 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.8 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 69 /100
- Homes exposed
- 27 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Elk City saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 26, 2026 · Elk City, 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
2.75"
Detections
4
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
2"
The storm in context
Where Apr 26, 2026 sits in Elk City's hail record.
This was Elk City's 5th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the Apr 25, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 10 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Elk City at 2.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 26, 2026 convective day was bigger than Elk City: the same system put hail over 710 other tracked cities, 277 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Longton (9 miles northwest, up to 2"); Neodesha (13 miles northeast, up to 4"); Independence (13 miles southeast, up to 2.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 10 Elk City 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.
Tornado reports
2 reports Tornado Rating unknown
4 W Sycamore Montgomery County
“Delayed report of a tornado. Photo of a tornado west of Sycamore from social media. (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.
Reports came from Sycamore — beyond Elk City itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2.75" hail means for Elk City 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.
21 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$252K
Potential roof exposure — 21 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
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 $4 on top of the $150 plan.
Elk City hail history
Other storms in Elk City.
10 recorded storm days in Elk City, KS
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Jun 21, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Jun 16, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
May 31, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
May 18, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
May 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Apr 25, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Apr 17, 2026
4" Signatures 4" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Apr 3, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Elk City / KS
Apr 1, 2026
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 2, 2026.