Tornado Rating unknown
Whitewater Butler County
“[Landspout] (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Sedgwick
Hail in Valley Center · Apr 23, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 1.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. 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 1.75" ≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 1,010
Ground reports 3 1 hail · 2 tornado
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Apr 23, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Valley Center has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 5.4 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.4 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 60 /100
- Ground truth
- 83 /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 Valley Center saw the hail — from two instruments
Apr 23, 2026 · Valley Center, 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
1.75"
Detections
0
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
1"
The storm in context
Where Apr 23, 2026 sits in Valley Center's hail record.
This was Valley Center's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 6 days after the Apr 17, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Valley Center at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 23, 2026 convective day was bigger than Valley Center: the same system put hail over 703 other tracked cities, 147 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Sedgwick (6 miles northwest, up to 1.75"); Whitewater (11 miles east, up to 2.5"); Benton (11 miles east, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 9 Valley Center 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
3 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
2 SW Whitewater Harvey County
“[Landspout] Retired NWS employee reports landspout. (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail reports
1 report Hail size 1.25"
5 NNW Benton Butler County
“Delayed report. Relayed via NWS employee. (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.
The storm tracked south at roughly 10 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.
Hail was reported over 41 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Benton and Whitewater — beyond Valley Center itself.
High damage potential
What 1.75" hail means for Valley Center roofs.
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
1,010 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$12M
Potential roof exposure — 1,010 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 5 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$75K
Close just 0.5% of the 1,010 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 $212 on top of the $150 plan.
Valley Center hail history
Other storms in Valley Center.
9 recorded storm days in Valley Center, KS
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
Jun 25, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
May 30, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.75"
1 ground report Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
May 29, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
May 18, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
1 ground report Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
May 4, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
Apr 17, 2026
3.25" Signatures 3.25" Estimated 1.25"
6 ground reports Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
Mar 26, 2026
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Valley Center / KS
Mar 10, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
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Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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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.