/ Storm field report · Carter

Hail in Ekalaka · Aug 17, 2026

Hit 26 days ago

The estimated-size surface reached 1.25" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Ekalaka that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.

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Peak hail signal 1.25" ≈ half-dollar · radar-estimated size aloft

Homes in the hail footprint 795

Ground reports 1 1 hail

Radar surfaces 1 Estimated size only

Convective day · Aug 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The 5th most severe storm Ekalaka has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 3.6 / 10

Storm severity score

Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.

3.6 /10

Peak hail signal: 31 /100
Homes exposed: 58 /100
Ground truth: 17 /100

Evidence / storm surfaces

How Ekalaka saw the hail — from two instruments

Aug 17, 2026 · Ekalaka, MT

We map this storm two ways: the NEXRAD radar signatures the storm produced overhead, and the radar-estimated size of the hail in the air. The two surfaces don’t have to match — where they diverge is where estimated size aloft ran ahead of, or behind, what the signatures caught.

Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Ekalaka, MT on Aug 17, 2026 — Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.

Max size 1.25"

Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Aug 17, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Ekalaka, so there is one map to show, not two.

The storm in context

Where Aug 17, 2026 sits in Ekalaka's hail record.

This was Ekalaka's 12th recorded hail day, arriving 5 days after the Aug 12, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 5th of the 12 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Ekalaka at 1.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.

The Aug 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Ekalaka: the same system put hail over 428 other tracked cities, 13 of them in Montana. Nearest: Camp Crook (20 miles southeast, up to 1"); Buffalo (33 miles east, up to 1.25"); Bowman (50 miles northeast, up to 0.75").

These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 12 Ekalaka 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.

Hail reports

1 report

Hail size 1"

5 SW Mill Iron Carter County

1:00 AM UTC

“0.20 inches of rain. (BYZ)”
— 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 Mill Iron — beyond Ekalaka itself.

Damage-capable hail signal

What 1.25" hail means for Ekalaka roofs.

Quarter-size and larger hail can bruise asphalt mats, remove granules, and dent exposed soft metal. The mapped footprint identifies an inspection priority area — it does not identify which individual roofs, if any, sustained damage.

Radar reading · not confirmed damage

Roofing exposure

What this storm is worth to a roofer.

795 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$9.5M

Potential roof exposure — 795 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs: 4 jobs
Illustrative work: ~$60K

Close just 0.5% of the 795 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

August 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $167 on top of the $150 plan.

Ekalaka hail history

12 recorded storm days in Ekalaka, MT

← All hail in Ekalaka

Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Ekalaka, MT on Aug 12, 2026

Estimated-size surface

Storm date Ekalaka / MT

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See the hail, review your recommendations, and canvass with Overview on iPhone.

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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 18, 2026.

The 5th most severe storm Ekalaka has seen in the last 12 months

How Ekalaka saw the hail — from two instruments

Where Aug 17, 2026 sits in Ekalaka's hail record.

What people on the ground reported

Hail reports

How the storm moved

What 1.25" hail means for Ekalaka roofs.

What this storm is worth to a roofer.

Other storms in Ekalaka.

Aug 12, 2026

Aug 11, 2026

Jul 6, 2026

Jul 5, 2026

Jul 1, 2026

Jun 27, 2026

Jun 7, 2026

Jun 6, 2026

Jun 4, 2026

Jun 2, 2026

Jun 1, 2026

Take your next area into the field.