Hail size 1.25"
6 NE Sturgis Meade County
“(UNR)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Vale Jul 2, 2026
Hit 32 days agoBoth radar surfaces caught this storm: NEXRAD logged 9 hail signatures up to 2.5", and the radar-estimated size reached 1.75" aloft. At 2.5" — baseball — this is severe, roof-replacing hail: close to every roof inside the footprint becomes a claim candidate.
Largest hailstone
2.5"
≈ baseball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature Homes in the hail footprint
38
Ground reports
1
1 hailThe most severe storm Vale 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.
4.8 /10
- Hail size
- 63 /100
- Homes exposed
- 32 /100
- Ground truth
- 17 /100
Largest hailstone — the top predictor of roof damage.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
How Vale 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.
NEXRAD radar signatures
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.
Max size
2.5"
Detections
9
Radar-estimated hail size
Maximum hail size as estimated from radar aloft. Treat it as the storm's ceiling — the largest supportable stone — rather than a ground measurement.
Max size
1.75"
Where Jul 2, 2026 sits in Vale's hail record
This was Vale's 6th recorded hail day, arriving 1 day after the Jul 1, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 1st of the 6 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Vale at 2.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jul 2, 2026 convective day was bigger than Vale: the same system put hail over 1,147 other tracked cities, 153 of them in South Dakota. Nearest: Sturgis (7 miles south, up to 4"); Whitewood (8 miles northwest, up to 1.5"); Fruitdale (12 miles northwest, up to 0").
These maps are stills from Vale'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.
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
Storm forensics
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports,
not a radar-measured storm track.
How the storm moved
Reports came from Sturgis — beyond Vale itself.
What 2.5" hail means for Vale roofs
Two-inch-plus hail punctures shingles, breaks skylights and windows, and dents anything soft. In the core of a footprint like this, close to every roof is a candidate for an insurance claim. Speed decides who writes those jobs.
What this storm is worth to a roofer
$456K
Potential roof exposure — 38 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage. 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 Vale on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Vale 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.
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
Vale hail history
← All hail in Vale 6 recorded storm days in Vale, SD
Other storms in Vale
Jul 1, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 1"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 26, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
Jun 1, 2026
1.5" Signatures 1.5" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 31, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed 
May 30, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed
A storm day here is a convective day — it runs from noon to noon
UTC, so late-night hail is grouped with the afternoon storm that
spawned it rather than split across two calendar dates. Ground
reports are public-domain observations from the NOAA Storm
Prediction Center. Radar surfaces are detections and estimates,
not confirmed damage. Last updated Aug 3, 2026.