Storm report · Sedgwick

Hail in Wichita Apr 17, 2026

Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 81 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.

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Largest hailstone

2.25"

≈ tennis ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature

Homes in the hail footprint

41,696

Ground reports

8 hail

Severity

The 2nd most severe storm Wichita 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.

7.2 /10

Hail size: 56 /100
Homes exposed: 92 /100
Ground truth: 100 /100

Two ways to read the storm

How Wichita saw the hail — from two instruments

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-signature map of the hail storm over Wichita, KS on Apr 17, 2026 — 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 2.25" Detections 81

Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Wichita, KS on Apr 17, 2026 — 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 1.25"

The storm in context

Where Apr 17, 2026 sits in Wichita's hail record

This was Wichita's 4th recorded hail day, arriving 14 days after the Apr 3, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 17 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Wichita at 2.25" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Wichita: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 144 of them in Kansas. Nearest: Goddard (6 miles southwest, up to 2"); Colwich (7 miles north, up to 1.75"); Clearwater (10 miles south, up to 2.25").

These maps are stills from Wichita'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.

Ground reports

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

8 reports

Hail size 1"

Derby Sedgwick County

8:38 PM UTC

“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1.75"

Derby Sedgwick County

8:41 PM UTC

“Golf ball sized hail sent via mPING. (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1"

2 WNW Rose Hill Sedgwick County

8:54 PM UTC

“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1.25"

1 E Bel Aire Sedgwick County

7:52 PM UTC

“Half dollar hail via mPING. (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1"

2 WNW Benton Butler County

8:00 PM UTC

“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1"

Wichita Eisenhower Airp Sedgwick County

7:36 PM UTC

“Mostly pea to penny sized hail with a couple of quarter sized pieces. (ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1"

4 SSE Maize Sedgwick County

7:43 PM UTC

“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Hail size 1.5"

Valley Center Sedgwick County

6:59 PM UTC

“(ICT)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Storm forensics

How the storm moved

The storm tracked southeast at roughly 10 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.

Hail was reported over 115 minutes, from 6:59 PM UTC to 8:54 PM UTC .

Reports came from Derby, Rose Hill, Bel Aire, Benton, Wichita Eisenhower Airp, and Maize — beyond Wichita itself.

Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.

Severe, roof-replacing hail

What 2.25" hail means for Wichita 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

$500M

Potential roof exposure — 41,696 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs

208 jobs

Illustrative work

~$3.1M

Close just 0.5% of the 41,696 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.

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 Wichita on the live map

Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Wichita 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.

Reach 41,696 affected homes → Book a 15-min demo

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Wichita hail history

17 recorded storm days in Wichita, KS

← All hail in Wichita

Other storms in Wichita

Jul 10, 2026