/ Storm field report · Cherry

Hail in Valentine · Jul 30, 2026

NEXRAD logged 147 hail signatures up to 4"; the estimated-size surface reached 3" aloft. At 4" — softball or larger — this is a severe hail signal associated with roof damage. 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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Peak hail signal 4" ≈ softball or larger · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 817
Ground reports 5 4 wind · 1 tornado
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size

Convective day · Jul 30, 2026 · noon–noon UTC

Severity

The most severe storm Valentine has seen in the last 12 months

Composite score · 9.0 / 10
Storm severity score

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

9.0 /10
Peak hail signal
100 /100

Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.

Homes exposed
58 /100

How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.

Ground truth
100 /100

Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.

Evidence / storm surfaces

How Valentine saw the hail — from two instruments

Jul 30, 2026 · Valentine, NE

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 radar signatures Surface resolved
NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 30, 2026 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.

Max size 4" Detections 147
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 30, 2026 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.

Max size 3"

The storm in context

Where Jul 30, 2026 sits in Valentine's hail record.

This was Valentine's 12th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the Jul 29, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 19 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Valentine at 4" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Jul 30, 2026 convective day was bigger than Valentine: the same system put hail over 432 other tracked cities, 101 of them in Nebraska. Nearest: Crookston (16 miles northwest, up to 4"); Wood Lake (24 miles east, up to 3"); Cody (29 miles west, up to 0.5").

These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 19 Valentine 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

5 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.

Tornado reports

1 report
Tornado Rating unknown
20 N Mullen Cherry County

“Brief landspout reported. (LBF)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report

Wind reports

4 reports
Wind gust 59 mph
3 E Sparks Cherry County

“(LBF)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 72 mph
13 NW Brownlee Cherry County

“(LBF)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 80 mph
13 NW Brownlee Cherry County

“(LBF)”

— NOAA / SPC storm report
Wind gust 70 mph
13 NW Brownlee Cherry County

“(LBF)”

— 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.

The storm tracked southwest at roughly 25 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.

Hail was reported over 116 minutes, from to .

Reports came from Sparks, Brownlee, and Mullen — beyond Valentine itself.

Severe hail signal

What 4" hail means for Valentine 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.

817 homes × $12,000 avg. claim

Potential roof exposure

$9.8M

Potential roof exposure — 817 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 817 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

July 2028

Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around July 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 $172 on top of the $150 plan.

Valentine hail history

Other storms in Valentine.

19 recorded storm days in Valentine, NE
← All hail in Valentine
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 27, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 27, 2026

2.75"
Estimated 2.75"
6 ground reports Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 21, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 21, 2026

1.25"
Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 20, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 20, 2026

2.5"
Estimated 2.5"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 17, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 17, 2026

1.5"
Estimated 1.5"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 11, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 11, 2026

2"
Estimated 2"
5 ground reports Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 10, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 10, 2026

2"
Estimated 2"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Aug 3, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Aug 3, 2026

2"
Estimated 2"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 29, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jul 29, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 27, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jul 27, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 9, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jul 9, 2026

4"
Signatures 4" Estimated 3"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 6, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jul 6, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jul 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jul 4, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jun 30, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jun 30, 2026

1.25"
Signatures 1" Estimated 1.25"
2 ground reports Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jun 27, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jun 27, 2026

2.5"
Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.75"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jun 20, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jun 20, 2026

1.5"
Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jun 4, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jun 4, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
1 ground report Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on Jun 3, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

Jun 3, 2026

1.75"
Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Valentine, NE on May 30, 2026 Estimated-size surface
Storm date Valentine / NE

May 30, 2026

1"
Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
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 Aug 28, 2026.