Storm report · Pennington

Hail in Rapid City Jul 2, 2026

Hit 32 days ago

Both radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 1.75", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.5" aloft.

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Largest hailstone

1.75"

≈ golf ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature

Homes in the hail footprint

2,045

Ground reports

1 hail

Severity

The 2nd 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.

4.5 /10

Hail size: 44 /100
Homes exposed: 66 /100
Ground truth: 17 /100

Two ways to read the storm

How Rapid City 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-signature map of the hail storm over Rapid City, SD on Jul 2, 2026 — 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 map of the storm over Rapid City, SD on Jul 2, 2026 — 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 1.5"

The storm in context

Where Jul 2, 2026 sits in Rapid City's hail record

This was Rapid City's 10th recorded hail day, arriving 6 days after the Jun 26, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 17 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rapid City at 1.75" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.

The Jul 2, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rapid City: the same system put hail over 1,147 other tracked cities, 153 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Hill City (13 miles west, up to 0.5"); Piedmont (14 miles northeast, up to 1"); Sturgis (21 miles north, up to 4").

These maps are stills from Rapid City's Jul 2, 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.

Hail reports

1 report

Hail size 1"

4 NE Rockerville Pennington County

4:37 AM UTC

“mPING report (UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report

Storm forensics

How the storm moved

Reports came from Rockerville — beyond Rapid City itself.

Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.

Widespread claimable damage

What 1.75" 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

$25M

Potential roof exposure — 2,045 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.

Illustrative jobs

10 jobs

Illustrative work

~$150K

Close just 0.5% of the 2,045 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 July 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 Jul 2, 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 2,045 affected homes → Book a 15-min demo

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

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