NEXRAD logged 8 hail signatures up to 1.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
A tornado was also reported to the National Weather Service during this storm. The ground reports below show where it was filed.
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Convective day · Apr 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
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
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 signature field 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.
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.
The storm in context
This was Rochester's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 6 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rochester at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Apr 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rochester: the same system put hail over 1,016 other tracked cities, 81 of them in Minnesota. Nearest: Stewartville (10 miles southwest, up to 1.75"); Eyota (10 miles east, up to 1.75"); Chatfield (14 miles southeast, up to 2").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 6 Rochester 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
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.
“This EF-2 tornado (estimated peak wind 130 mph) formed just northeast of Stewartville around 2:17 pm and traveled about 10 miles northeast damaging numerous homes and f (ARX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
“Rochester Tower reported tornado on the ground near Highway 63. (ARX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
“Rochester Tower reported tornado on the ground near Highway 63. (ARX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
“The tornado began in a northeast suburb of Rochester at around 2:30 pm with just shingle damage to homes and traveled northeast into more rural areas. The first portion (ARX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
Hail was reported over 15 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Stewartville — beyond Rochester itself.
High damage potential
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
Potential roof exposure
$29M
Potential roof exposure — 2,450 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Close just 0.5% of the 2,450 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
April 2028
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.
Names and phones for every home in the footprint: at most $515 on top of the $150 plan.
Rochester hail history
Estimated-size surface 
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Estimated-size surface Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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