Storm report · Pennington

Hail in Rapid City May 30, 2026

Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 13 hail signatures up to 1.5", and the radar-estimated size reached 0.75" aloft.

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Largest hailstone

1.5"

≈ ping-pong ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature

Homes in the hail footprint

524

Ground reports

none filed

Severity

The 4th most severe storm Rapid City 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.

3.6 /10

Hail size: 38 /100
Homes exposed: 54 /100
Ground truth: 0 /100

Two ways to read the storm

How Rapid City saw the hail — from two instruments

The maps here read the same storm from two angles — point detections from NEXRAD, and modeled hail size aloft. Where the two disagree is informative: it marks where estimated size outran the signatures, or trailed them.

NEXRAD radar-signature map of the hail storm over Rapid City, SD on May 30, 2026 — Where NEXRAD flagged hail as the storm passed — point signatures from the radar, which indicate hail overhead rather than confirm what landed.

Max size 1.5" Detections 13

Radar-estimated hail-size map of the storm over Rapid City, SD on May 30, 2026 — The modeled maximum hail size across the swath, derived from radar aloft — the largest stone the storm could have supported, which is not necessarily what reached the ground.

Max size 0.75"

The storm in context

Where May 30, 2026 sits in Rapid City's hail record

This was Rapid City's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 9 days after the May 21, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 4th of the 17 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rapid City at 1.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The May 30, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rapid City: the same system put hail over 541 other tracked cities, 41 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Deadwood (7 miles north, up to 1.25"); Hill City (13 miles west, up to 1.75"); Lead (20 miles northwest, up to 1.25").

These maps are stills from Rapid City's May 30, 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.

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.

Nobody on the ground filed a report over Rapid City for this date, which says more about who was watching than about the storm: spotter reports only exist where there is an observer. The radar surfaces above carry the evidence for this one.

Widespread claimable damage

What 1.5" hail means for Rapid City 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

$6.3M

Potential roof exposure — 524 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs

3 jobs

Illustrative work

~$45K

Close just 0.5% of the 524 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.

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 Rapid City on the live map

Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Rapid City storm history — this May 30, 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.

Reach 524 affected homes → Book a 15-min demo

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Rapid City hail history

17 recorded storm days in Rapid City, SD

← All hail in Rapid City

Other storms in Rapid City

Jul 30, 2026