Hail size 1"
5 NNE Kearney Buffalo County
“(GID)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Kearney May 16, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 6 hail signatures up to 3.25", and the radar-estimated size reached 2.5" aloft. At 3.25" — baseball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
Largest hailstone
3.25"
≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
91
Ground reports
4
1 hail · 3 windThe most severe storm Kearney has seen in the last 12 months
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
6.9 /10
- Hail size
- 81 /100
- Homes exposed
- 39 /100
- Ground truth
- 67 /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 Kearney saw the hail — from two instruments
The maps here read the same storm from two angles — point detections from NEXRAD, and modeled hail size aloft. Where the two disagree is informative: it marks where estimated size outran the signatures, or trailed them.
NEXRAD radar signatures
Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.
Max size
3.25"
Detections
6
Radar-estimated hail size
The modeled maximum hail size across the swath, derived from radar aloft — the largest stone the storm could have supported, which is not necessarily what reached the ground.
Max size
2.5"
Where May 16, 2026 sits in Kearney's hail record
This was Kearney's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 7 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Kearney at 3.25" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 16, 2026 convective day was bigger than Kearney: the same system put hail over 711 other tracked cities, 201 of them in Nebraska. Nearest: Riverdale (9 miles northwest, up to 4"); Gibbon (10 miles east, up to 2.5"); Elm Creek (14 miles west, up to 4").
These maps are stills from Kearney's May 16, 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
1 reportWind reports
3 reports Wind gust 63 mph
Kearney Airport Buffalo County
“(GID)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 64 mph
2 NNE Kearney Buffalo County
“(GID)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 70 mph
5 ENE Kearney Buffalo County
“At Kearney Regional Airport. (GID)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports,
not a radar-measured storm track.
How the storm moved
Hail was reported over 208 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Kearney Airport — beyond Kearney itself.
What 3.25" hail means for Kearney roofs
Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$1.1M
Potential roof exposure — 91 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage. 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.
Track hail over Kearney on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Kearney storm history — this May 16, 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
Kearney hail history
← All hail in Kearney 7 recorded storm days in Kearney, NE
Other storms in Kearney
Jul 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 29, 2026
Jun 20, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 10, 2026
2.5" Estimated 2.5"
3
ground reports 
Jun 5, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
May 17, 2026
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 surfaces are detections and estimates,
not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.