Wind gust 65 mph
Ottawa Franklin County
“Estimated 60-65 mph wind gusts. (TOP)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Ottawa Apr 17, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 10 hail signatures up to 2.25", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.25" aloft. At 2.25" — tennis ball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
Largest hailstone
2.25"
≈ tennis ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
1,023
Ground reports
2
2 windThe 2nd most severe storm Ottawa 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.
5.4 /10
- Hail size
- 56 /100
- Homes exposed
- 60 /100
- Ground truth
- 33 /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 Ottawa 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
2.25"
Detections
10
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
1.25"
Where Apr 17, 2026 sits in Ottawa's hail record
This was Ottawa's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 4 days after the Apr 13, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Ottawa at 2.25" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Ottawa: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 144 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Princeton (7 miles south, up to 2.25"); Rantoul (9 miles southeast, up to 2.25"); Pomona (13 miles west, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills from Ottawa's Apr 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.
Wind reports
2 reports Wind gust 59 mph
4 NNE Princeton Franklin County
“KOWI. Time estimated from radar data. (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
Reports came from Princeton — beyond Ottawa itself.
What 2.25" hail means for Ottawa 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
$12M
Potential roof exposure — 1,023 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
5 jobs
Illustrative work
~$75K
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.
Track hail over Ottawa on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Ottawa storm history — this Apr 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
Ottawa hail history
← All hail in Ottawa 7 recorded storm days in Ottawa, KS
Other storms in Ottawa
May 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 26, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 23, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 13, 2026
1.75" Estimated 1.75"
4
ground reports 
Mar 10, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Mar 5, 2026
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 2, 2026.