Hail in Hill City · Jul 31, 2026
Convective day · Jul 31, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 9th most severe storm Hill City has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Peak hail signal
- 25 /100
- Homes exposed
- 41 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /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 Hill City saw the hail — from two instruments
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 signature field NEXRAD radar signatures — the point detections the storm produced overhead. A signature is where the radar saw hail, not a confirmed stone on the ground.
Estimated size field Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.
The storm in context
Where Jul 31, 2026 sits in Hill City's hail record.
This was Hill City's 12th recorded hail day, arriving 21 days after the Jul 10, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 9th of the 15 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Hill City at 1" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jul 31, 2026 convective day was bigger than Hill City: the same system put hail over 238 other tracked cities, 2 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Custer (18 miles south, up to 3.5"); Hot Springs (46 miles south, up to 4"); Carr (223 miles south, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 15 Hill City 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
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.
No ground reports were filed with the National Weather Service for this storm over Hill City. That is common: a report depends on someone being there to see it and take the time to call it in. The radar surfaces above are the record here — the storm was detected from above even though no one on the ground logged it.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for Hill City 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.
Potential roof exposure
$1.4M
Potential roof exposure — 117 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 1 job
- Illustrative work
- ~$15K
Close just 0.5% of the 117 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 $25 on top of the $150 plan.
Hill City hail history
Other storms in Hill City.
Estimated-size surface Aug 27, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Aug 11, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Aug 10, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface Jul 10, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 9, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 8, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
3"
Estimated-size surface Jul 2, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 26, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 21, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 6, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 4, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface May 30, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 3, 2026
0.5"The next storm won’t wait for you.
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