Hail in Rapid City · Aug 16, 2026
NEXRAD logged 0 hail signatures up to 0"; 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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Convective day · Aug 16, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 8th most severe storm Rapid 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
- 31 /100
- Homes exposed
- 77 /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 Rapid 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 Aug 16, 2026 sits in Rapid City's hail record.
This was Rapid City's 21st recorded hail day, arriving 5 days after the Aug 11, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 8th of the 26 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rapid City at 1.25" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Aug 16, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rapid City: the same system put hail over 264 other tracked cities, 15 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Deadwood (5 miles west, up to 1.25"); Nemo (9 miles northwest, up to 1.25"); Black Hawk (9 miles northeast, up to 1").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 26 Rapid 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.
The National Weather Service logged no spotter reports for this storm over Rapid City. 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 1.25" hail means for Rapid 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
$85M
Potential roof exposure — 7,057 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 35 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$525K
Close just 0.5% of the 7,057 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
August 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around August 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 $1,482 on top of the $150 plan.
Rapid City hail history
Other storms in Rapid City.
Estimated-size surface Sep 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 27, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Aug 24, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 23, 2026
2.25"
Estimated-size surface Aug 18, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface Aug 11, 2026
4"
Estimated-size surface Aug 10, 2026
2"
Estimated-size surface Aug 9, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 30, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jul 29, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 27, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 9, 2026
0.5"
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 Jul 2, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 26, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 22, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jun 7, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Jun 6, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jun 4, 2026
1.25"
Estimated-size surface May 31, 2026
1.75"
Estimated-size surface May 30, 2026
1.5"
Estimated-size surface May 21, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface May 3, 2026
0.5"Take your next area into the field.
See the hail, review your recommendations, and canvass with Overview on iPhone.
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