Hail size 2"
1 SW Cross Plains Dane County
“Trained spotter reports hail stones up to 2 inches in diameter. (MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail in Black Earth Apr 14, 2026
The radar-estimated size surface caught this storm, reaching 1.75" aloft. NEXRAD logged no point detections over Black Earth this day.
Largest hailstone
1.75"
≈ golf ball · radar-estimated size aloft Homes in the hail footprint
4,143
Ground reports
6
6 hailThe most severe storm Black Earth 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.
5.9 /10
- Hail size
- 44 /100
- Homes exposed
- 72 /100
- Ground truth
- 100 /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 Black Earth saw the hail — from two instruments
Two instruments, one storm: NEXRAD logs the point signatures it detected overhead, while the estimated-size surface models how large the hail aloft could have grown. Agreement between them is not guaranteed — the gaps are where the model ran ahead of, or behind, the detections.
Radar-estimated hail size
Radar-estimated maximum hail size across the swath, modeled from radar aloft. It reflects the biggest stone the storm could support, which may differ from what actually fell.
Max size
1.75"
Only the radar-estimated size surface resolved for Apr 14, 2026 — this storm produced no NEXRAD point detections over Black Earth, so there is one map to show, not two.
Where Apr 14, 2026 sits in Black Earth's hail record
This was Black Earth's 1st recorded hail day — the first hail day in our records for the city. By severity it ranks 1st of the 2 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Black Earth at 1.75" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The Apr 14, 2026 convective day was bigger than Black Earth: the same system put hail over 476 other tracked cities, 94 of them in Wisconsin. Nearest: Middleton (5 miles east, up to 1.5"); Verona (9 miles southeast, up to 1.5"); Blue Mounds (9 miles southwest, up to 0.75").
These maps are stills from Black Earth's Apr 14, 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
6 reports Hail size 1"
2 NE Blue Mounds Dane County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.75"
4 W Black Earth Dane County
“(MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1"
Black Earth Dane County
“Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.). (MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 2.75"
1 SW Black Earth Dane County
“Baseball sized hail falling causing significant damage to siding and roofs in the area. (MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm report
Hail size 1.75"
2 SSW Mazomanie Dane County
“One hail stone of 2 inch diameter. (MKX)”
— NOAA / SPC storm 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
Hail was reported over 29 minutes, from to .
Reports came from Cross Plains, Blue Mounds, and Mazomanie — beyond Black Earth itself.
What 1.75" hail means for Black Earth 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
$50M
Potential roof exposure — 4,143 homes × the ~$12,000 industry-average hail roof claim. Exposure, not confirmed damage.
Illustrative jobs
21 jobs
Illustrative work
~$315K
Claims from this storm can typically be filed until around April 2028 — the window to reach these homeowners while it's still open. Deadlines vary by policy and state.
Track hail over Black Earth on the live map
Radar updates in real time, spotter reports appear on the map as they're filed, and the full Black Earth storm history — this Apr 14, 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
Black Earth hail history
← All hail in Black Earth 2 recorded storm days in Black Earth, WI
Other storms in Black Earth
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 2, 2026.