“Spotter called reporting 1 inch diameter hail for approximately 5 minutes. (DTX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Ottawa Lake Mar 26, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 6 hail signatures up to 1.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.5" aloft.
1.75"
≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature854
2
2 hailThe most severe storm Ottawa Lake has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Hail size
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 59 /100
- Ground truth
- 33 /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 Ottawa Lake saw the hail — from two instruments
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.
NEXRAD's hail signatures for this storm: the spots the radar detected from above. A detection overhead is not the same thing as a confirmed stone below.
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.
Where Mar 26, 2026 sits in Ottawa Lake's hail record
This was Ottawa Lake's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 3 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Ottawa Lake at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Mar 26, 2026 convective day was bigger than Ottawa Lake: the same system put hail over 316 other tracked cities, 10 of them in Michigan. Nearest: Riga (5 miles west, up to 2"); Palmyra (12 miles northwest, up to 2"); Maumee (14 miles south, up to 1.75").
These maps are stills from Ottawa Lake's Mar 26, 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.
Hail reports
2 reports“Report relayed via social media with image of measured hailstone. (DTX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
How the storm moved
Reports came from Lambertville — beyond Ottawa Lake itself.
What 1.75" hail means for Ottawa Lake roofs
At an inch and a half, hail cracks shingles, strips granules down to the mat, and dents gutters, vents, and siding. A footprint like this typically produces a wave of insurance claims — and the contractor who reaches the homeowner first usually gets the inspection.
$10M
Potential roof exposure — 854 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.Track hail over Ottawa Lake on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Ottawa Lake storm history — this Mar 26, 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
3 recorded storm days in Ottawa Lake, MI