Wind gust 59 mph
3 E Lake Charles Calcasieu County
“AWOS station KCWF Chennault Airport. (LCH)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Calcasieu
Hail in Iowa · May 23, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 0.75" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Iowa that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 0.75" ≈ penny to nickel · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 7,776
Ground reports 1 1 wind
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · May 23, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 3rd most severe storm Iowa has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 3.3 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
3.3 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 19 /100
- Homes exposed
- 78 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /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 Iowa saw the hail — from two instruments
May 23, 2026 · Iowa, LA
Two instruments, one storm: NEXRAD logs the point signatures it detected overhead, while the estimated-size surface models how large the hail aloft could have grown. Agreement between them is not guaranteed — the gaps are where the model ran ahead of, or behind, the detections.
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field Radar-estimated maximum hail size across the swath, modeled from radar aloft. It reflects the biggest stone the storm could support, which may differ from what actually fell.
Max size
0.75"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for May 23, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Iowa, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where May 23, 2026 sits in Iowa's hail record.
This was Iowa's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 3rd of the 4 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Iowa at 0.75" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 23, 2026 convective day was bigger than Iowa: the same system put hail over 222 other tracked cities, 6 of them in Louisiana. Nearest: Lake Charles (16 miles southwest, up to 1"); Deridder (35 miles north, up to 0.5"); Abbeville (58 miles east, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 4 Iowa 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
1 report 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.
Wind reports
1 reportStorm 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.
Reports came from Lake Charles — beyond Iowa itself.
Near the severe threshold
What 0.75" hail means for Iowa roofs.
A signal this size sits near the National Weather Service severe threshold. Aging shingles and soft metals such as vents, flashing, and gutters may be more vulnerable; roof age, wind, and material condition all matter, and only an inspection can confirm damage.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
7,776 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$93M
Potential roof exposure — 7,776 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 39 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$585K
Close just 0.5% of the 7,776 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
May 2028
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.
Names and phones for every home in the footprint: at most $1,633 on top of the $150 plan.
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa / LA
Jul 7, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa / LA
Jul 5, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Iowa / LA
Jul 4, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
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 3, 2026.