Hail size 1"
Chapman Dickinson County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Junction City May 18, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 104 hail signatures up to 3.5", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.75" aloft. At 3.5" — baseball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
Largest hailstone
3.5"
≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
4,989
Ground reports
3
2 hail · 1 windThe most severe storm Junction City 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.
7.8 /10
- Hail size
- 88 /100
- Homes exposed
- 74 /100
- Ground truth
- 50 /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 Junction City saw the hail — from two instruments
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
NEXRAD radar signatures
The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
Max size
3.5"
Detections
104
Radar-estimated hail size
Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
Max size
1.75"
Where May 18, 2026 sits in Junction City's hail record
This was Junction City's 7th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the May 17, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 17 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Junction City at 3.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Junction City: the same system put hail over 726 other tracked cities, 258 of them in Kansas. Nearest: White City (7 miles south, up to 2.5"); Chapman (11 miles west, up to 2.5"); Dwight (11 miles east, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills from Junction City's May 18, 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
2 reports Hail size 1"
4 W Manhattan Riley County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind reports
1 report Wind gust 65 mph
Ogden Riley County
“(TOP)”
— 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
The storm tracked northeast at roughly 45 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.
Hail was reported over 32 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Chapman, Manhattan, and Ogden — beyond Junction City itself.
What 3.5" hail means for Junction City 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
$60M
Potential roof exposure — 4,989 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
25 jobs
Illustrative work
~$375K
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 Junction City on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Junction City storm history — this May 18, 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
Junction City hail history
← All hail in Junction City 17 recorded storm days in Junction City, KS
Other storms in Junction City
Jul 23, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 4, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 24, 2026
2" Estimated 2"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 13, 2026
2.25" Estimated 2.25"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 10, 2026
1.5" Estimated 1.5"
2
ground reports 
Jun 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
8
ground reports 
May 30, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
May 29, 2026
May 17, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 26, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
1
ground report 
Apr 23, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 9, 2026
Mar 6, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed 
Mar 5, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
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.