Hail in Rapid City · Sep 6, 2026
The estimated-size surface reached 0.5" aloft; NEXRAD logged no point detections over Rapid City that day. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
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Convective day · Sep 6, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 22nd 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
- 13 /100
- Homes exposed
- 30 /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.
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.
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Sep 6, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Rapid City, so there is one map to show, not two.
The storm in context
Where Sep 6, 2026 sits in Rapid City's hail record.
This was Rapid City's 26th recorded hail day, arriving 10 days after the Aug 27, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 22nd of the 26 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Rapid City at 0.5" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Sep 6, 2026 convective day was bigger than Rapid City: the same system put hail over 608 other tracked cities, 33 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Black Hawk (9 miles northeast, up to 0.5"); Nemo (9 miles northwest, up to 0.5"); Buffalo Gap (43 miles south, 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.
Below the severe threshold
What 0.5" hail means for Rapid City roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
Potential roof exposure
$360K
Potential roof exposure — 30 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Claim window
September 2028
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around September 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 $6 on top of the $150 plan.
Rapid City hail history
Other storms in Rapid City.
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 16, 2026
1.25"
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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