Hail size 1"
Hollymead Albemarle County
“Quarter size hail was reported in Forest Lakes. (LWX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
/ Storm field report · Albemarle
Hail in Charlottesville · Jul 4, 2026
NEXRAD logged 22 hail signatures up to 1.5"; the estimated-size surface reached 1" aloft. Open it on the live map to see the swath over the streets.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
Peak hail signal 1.5" ≈ ping-pong ball · the largest NEXRAD radar signature
Homes in the hail footprint 10,252
Ground reports 2 2 hail
Radar surfaces 2 NEXRAD + estimated size
Convective day · Jul 4, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 2nd most severe storm Charlottesville has seen in the last 12 months
Composite score · 4.8 / 10
Storm severity score
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
4.8 /10
- Peak hail signal
- 38 /100
- Homes exposed
- 80 /100
- Ground truth
- 33 /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 Charlottesville saw the hail — from two instruments
Jul 4, 2026 · Charlottesville, VA
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 signatures Surface resolved
Radar signature field 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
1.5"
Detections
22
Radar-estimated hail size Surface resolved
Estimated size field 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"
The storm in context
Where Jul 4, 2026 sits in Charlottesville's hail record.
This was Charlottesville's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 22 days after the Jun 12, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 2nd of the 10 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Charlottesville at 1.5" — the largest NEXRAD radar signature.
The Jul 4, 2026 convective day was bigger than Charlottesville: the same system put hail over 2,035 other tracked cities, 122 of them in Virginia. Nearest: Covesville (7 miles south, up to 1.5"); Faber (7 miles south, up to 1.5"); Shipman (15 miles south, up to 2.5").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 10 Charlottesville 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
2 reports filed with the NWS
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
2 reports Hail size 1"
2 ENE Hollymead Albemarle County
“Quarter sized hail. (LWX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Storm forensics
How the storm moved
Timing and place names from NOAA ground reports
Read from the arrival times and locations of the NOAA ground reports, not a radar-measured storm track.
Hail was reported over 108 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Hollymead — beyond Charlottesville itself.
High damage potential
What 1.5" hail means for Charlottesville roofs.
Hail around an inch and a half is capable of cracking shingles, stripping granules, and denting gutters, vents, and siding. Risk is usually greatest near the strongest radar signal, but property-level damage still requires an on-site inspection.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Roofing exposure
What this storm is worth to a roofer.
10,252 homes × $12,000 avg. claim
Potential roof exposure
$123M
Potential roof exposure — 10,252 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
- Illustrative jobs
- 51 jobs
- Illustrative work
- ~$765K
Close just 0.5% of the 10,252 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
July 2028
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.
Names and phones for every home in the footprint: at most $2,153 on top of the $150 plan.
Charlottesville hail history
Other storms in Charlottesville.
10 recorded storm days in Charlottesville, VA
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Sep 2, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Aug 27, 2026
0.5" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Aug 22, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Aug 16, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Aug 14, 2026
2.5" Estimated 2.5"
7 ground reports Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Jul 26, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Jul 6, 2026
1" Signatures 1" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
Jun 12, 2026
0.75" Estimated 0.75"
No ground reports filed Open report →
Estimated-size surface Storm date Charlottesville / VA
May 27, 2026
1.75" Signatures 1.75" Estimated 0.5"
No ground reports filed Open report →
The next storm won’t wait for you.
Set your territory and alerts today. When hail hits, use Overview to choose your streets and get moving.
7-day free trial in the iPhone app. No card required to start.
For iPhone. Android coming soon.
Web trial: 7 days free. Card required. $150/month after the trial unless cancelled.
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 tells you where to look. Only an inspection confirms damage at an address. Last updated Sep 3, 2026.