Hail size 1"
1 WSW Columbus Lowndes County
“Pictures from 0.6 miles north of Main Street in Columbus showed hail the size of quarters. (JAN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Lowndes
Hail in Columbus · Mar 9, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 2" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Columbus that day. At 2" — tennis ball — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 2" ≈ tennis ball · radar-estimated size aloft
Homes in the hail footprint 17,748
Ground reports 3 3 hail
Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only
Convective day · Mar 9, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The most severe storm Columbus has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 5.9 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.9 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 50 /100
- Homes exposed
- 85 /100
- Ground truth
- 50 /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 Columbus saw the hail — from two instruments
Mar 9, 2026 · Columbus, MS
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.
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
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.
Max size
2"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Mar 9, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Columbus, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Mar 9, 2026 sits in Columbus's hail record.
This was Columbus's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 2 days after the Mar 7, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 16 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Columbus at 2" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Mar 9, 2026 convective day was bigger than Columbus: the same system put hail over 99 other tracked cities, 27 of them in Mississippi. Nearest: Aberdeen (9 miles northwest, up to 2"); Ethelsville (13 miles southeast, up to 1.25"); West Point (18 miles west, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 16 Columbus 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
3 reports 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.
Hail reports
3 reports Hail size 1"
3 NNE New Hope Lowndes County
“Nickel to quarter size hail was beginning to accumulate near Mt. Vernon Church. (JAN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.5"
1 NW New Hope Lowndes County
“(JAN)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm 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 New Hope — beyond Columbus itself.
Severe hail signal
What 2" hail means for Columbus roofs.
Two-inch-plus hail is capable of puncturing shingles, breaking skylights or windows, and heavily denting soft materials. The strongest radar bands warrant prompt inspection, but neither the signal nor the footprint confirms damage at a specific address.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
17,748 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$213M
Potential roof exposure — 17,748 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 89 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$1.3M
Close just 0.5% of the 17,748 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
March 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around March 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 $3,727 on top of the $150 plan.
Columbus hail history
Other storms in Columbus.
16 recorded storm days in Columbus, MS
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Sep 12, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Sep 6, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Sep 3, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Aug 26, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Aug 19, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Jul 9, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Jul 8, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Jul 1, 2026
2.25" Signatures 2.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Jun 1, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Apr 28, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
NEXRAD surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Apr 27, 2026
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Apr 1, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Mar 7, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Columbus / MS
Feb 26, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
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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 Sep 13, 2026.