Hail in Lead · Aug 23, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Convective day · Aug 23, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 11th most severe storm Lead 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
- 0 /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 Lead saw the hail — from two instruments
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.
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.
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.
The storm in context
Where Aug 23, 2026 sits in Lead's hail record.
This was Lead's 14th recorded hail day, arriving 7 days after the Aug 16, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 11th of the 15 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Lead at 1" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Aug 23, 2026 convective day was bigger than Lead: the same system put hail over 185 other tracked cities, 18 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Deadwood (17 miles southeast, up to 2.25"); Rapid City (20 miles southeast, up to 2.25"); Hermosa (41 miles southeast, up to 1.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 15 Lead 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.
The National Weather Service logged no spotter reports for this storm over Lead. That absence is ordinary — filing a report takes a person on the spot who saw the hail and phoned it in. What stands as the record for this date is the radar above, which caught the storm regardless.
Damage-capable hail signal
What 1" hail means for Lead 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
Estimated-size surface Sep 19, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 16, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 11, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 18, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 10, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 8, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface Jul 7, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 3, 2026
3"
Estimated-size surface Jun 26, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 20, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 6, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 4, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface May 30, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface May 29, 2026
1.5"The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
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