Hail in Westminster · May 20, 2026
Convective day · May 20, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Westminster has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Peak hail signal
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 55 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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 Westminster 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.
Estimated size field 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.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for May 20, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Westminster, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where May 20, 2026 sits in Westminster's hail record.
This was Westminster's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 3 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Westminster at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 20, 2026 convective day was bigger than Westminster: the same system put hail over 109 other tracked cities, 5 of them in Maryland. Nearest: Upperco (13 miles northeast, up to 0.5"); Frederick (25 miles west, up to 0.5"); Gettysburg (26 miles northwest, up to 0.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 3 Westminster 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
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.
Nobody on the ground filed a report over Westminster for this date, which says more about who was watching than about the storm: spotter reports only exist where there is an observer. The radar surfaces above carry the evidence for this one.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Westminster roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$6.4M
Potential roof exposure — 537 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 3 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$45K
Close just 0.5% of the 537 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 $113 on top of the $150 plan.
Westminster hail history
Other storms in Westminster.
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