Hail size 1"
Valley Douglas County
“Delayed social media report. (OAX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Waterloo May 15, 2026
Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 1.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.75" aloft.
Largest hailstone
1.75"
≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
2,151
Ground reports
1
1 hailThe 2nd most severe storm Waterloo 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.
4.5 /10
- Hail size
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 67 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /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 Waterloo saw the hail — from two instruments
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.
NEXRAD radar signatures
The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
Max size
1.75"
Detections
0
Radar-estimated hail size
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
0.75"
Where May 15, 2026 sits in Waterloo's hail record
This was Waterloo's 2nd recorded hail day, arriving 22 days after the Apr 23, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 5 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Waterloo at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The May 15, 2026 convective day was bigger than Waterloo: the same system put hail over 444 other tracked cities, 31 of them in Nebraska. Nearest: Valley (5 miles west, up to 1.75"); Elkhorn (7 miles south, up to 1"); Omaha (10 miles southeast, up to 1").
These maps are stills from Waterloo's May 15, 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 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
Reports came from Valley — beyond Waterloo itself.
What 1.75" hail means for Waterloo roofs
At an inch and a half, hail cracks shingles, strips granules down to the mat, and dents gutters, vents, and siding. A footprint like this typically produces a wave of insurance claims — and the contractor who reaches the homeowner first usually gets the inspection.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$26M
Potential roof exposure — 2,151 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
11 jobs
Illustrative work
~$165K
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 Waterloo on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Waterloo storm history — this May 15, 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
Waterloo hail history
← All hail in Waterloo 5 recorded storm days in Waterloo, NE
Other storms in Waterloo
Jul 8, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jul 3, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 13, 2026
1.5" Estimated 1.5"
2
ground reports 
Apr 23, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.75"
1
ground report
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.