Hail size 1.25"
1 ENE Mount Rushmore Pennington County
“delayed report (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Custer
Hail in Custer · Jul 3, 2026
NEXRAD logged 21 hail signatures up to 1.75"; the estimated-size surface reached 1.25" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Peak hail signal 1.75" ≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 1,016
Ground reports 7 7 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Jul 3, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 4th most severe storm Custer has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 5.6 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
5.6 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 60 /100
- Ground truth
- 100 /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 Custer saw the hail — from two instruments
Jul 3, 2026 · Custer, SD
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
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
1.75"
Detections
21
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
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
1.25"
The storm in context
Where Jul 3, 2026 sits in Custer's hail record.
This was Custer's 8th recorded hail day, arriving 7 days after the Jun 26, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 4th of the 20 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Custer at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jul 3, 2026 convective day was bigger than Custer: the same system put hail over 1,885 other tracked cities, 32 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Hill City (18 miles north, up to 3"); Keystone (25 miles northeast, up to 1.5"); Deadwood (26 miles north, up to 1.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 20 Custer 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
7 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
7 reports Hail size 1"
4 NNW Custer Custer County
“Most stones dime size. A few quarters mixed in. Video via social media. Time estimated based on radar. (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.25"
Hill City Pennington County
“Photo submitted via Facebook. (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
10 E Custer Custer County
“(UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
3 WSW Custer Custer County
“Reported at the KOA along Mt Rushmore Rd. Photos via social media. Time estimated based on radar. (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.25"
Custer Custer County
“Time estimated based on radar. (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
2 WNW Custer Custer County
“Photo submitted via social media. Time estimated based on radar. (UNR)”
— 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 southeast at roughly 15 mph, based on the timing of ground reports.
Hail was reported over 65 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Mount Rushmore and Hill City — beyond Custer itself.
High damage potential
What 1.75" hail means for Custer roofs.
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
1,016 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$12M
Potential roof exposure — 1,016 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 5 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$75K
Close just 0.5% of the 1,016 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 $213 on top of the $150 plan.
Custer hail history
Other storms in Custer.
20 recorded storm days in Custer, SD
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Sep 13, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Aug 27, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Aug 21, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Aug 12, 2026
2.25" Estimated 2.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Aug 11, 2026
4" Estimated 4"
4 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 31, 2026
3.5" Signatures 3.5" Estimated 1.75"
2 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 30, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 28, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.5"
2 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 17, 2026
1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 9, 2026
2" Signatures 2" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 8, 2026
1.25" Signatures 1.25" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jul 4, 2026
2.5" Signatures 2.5" Estimated 1.75"
3 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 26, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 22, 2026
1.25" Estimated 1.25"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 7, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 6, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 2, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
Jun 1, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Custer / SD
May 30, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 1"
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 14, 2026.