Wind gust 60 mph
Maize Sedgwick County
“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Valley Center May 18, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0", and the radar-estimated size reached 1" aloft.
Largest hailstone
1"
≈ quarter · radar-estimated size aloft Homes in the hail footprint
16,478
Ground reports
1
1 windThe 5th most severe storm Valley Center 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.
3.9 /10
- Hail size
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 84 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /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 Valley Center saw the hail — from two instruments
The maps here read the same storm from two angles — point detections from NEXRAD, and modeled hail size aloft. Where the two disagree is informative: it marks where estimated size outran the signatures, or trailed them.
NEXRAD radar signatures
Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.
Max size
0"
Detections
0
Radar-estimated hail size
The modeled maximum hail size across the swath, derived from radar aloft — the largest stone the storm could have supported, which is not necessarily what reached the ground.
Max size
1"
Where May 18, 2026 sits in Valley Center's hail record
This was Valley Center's 6th recorded hail day, arriving 14 days after the May 4, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 5th of the 9 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Valley Center at 1" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 18, 2026 convective day was bigger than Valley Center: the same system put hail over 726 other tracked cities, 258 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Sedgwick (4 miles northwest, up to 1.25"); Colwich (11 miles west, up to 1"); Newton (12 miles northwest, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Valley Center'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.
Wind reports
1 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 Maize — beyond Valley Center itself.
What 1" hail means for Valley Center roofs
Quarter-size and larger hail is where asphalt shingle damage starts in earnest: bruised mats and granule loss that homeowners can't see from the ground. Most people inside the footprint won't know their roof was hit until someone inspects it.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$198M
Potential roof exposure — 16,478 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
82 jobs
Illustrative work
~$1.2M
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 Valley Center on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Valley Center 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
Valley Center hail history
← All hail in Valley Center 9 recorded storm days in Valley Center, KS
Other storms in Valley Center
Jun 25, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
May 30, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.75"
1
ground report 
May 29, 2026
0.75" Signatures 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 4, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Apr 23, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
3
ground reports 
Apr 17, 2026
3.25" Signatures 3.25" Estimated 1.25"
6
ground reports 
Mar 26, 2026
Mar 10, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
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 2, 2026.