Hail map for Ames, IA — July 20, 2026
NOAA radar detected hail up to 1.50″ — half dollar size — within 5 miles of Ames on July 20, 2026.
- Max hail size
- 1.50″
- half dollar
- Impact rating
- 5/10
- from stone size
- Size bands over the city
- 2
- distinct radar bands
- Reached the ground
- 30%
- NOAA POSH probability
- Measured on the ground
- 2.75″
- 11.6 mi away · Storm Chaser
NOAA's Probability of Severe Hail peaked at 30% over Ames that day — low to moderate: the radar signature was there, ground impact less certain. It is a separate model from the size estimate above: one asks how big the stones were in the storm, the other asks whether they made it down.
Sizes come from NOAA MRMS radar (MESH), which runs about ±0.25″ against ground truth. It is canvass-targeting quality, not claim evidence.
Work Ames on the live hail map
- The whole state around Ames, with this swath already on it
- Three years of hail swaths, filterable by stone size
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Did hail hit your address?
This page covers Ames as a whole. Check your own address to see every storm on record for your roof — the date and the stone size for each one — and we'll email you the full report to keep.
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What people on the ground measured in Ames, IA on July 20, 2026
4 reports filed with the National Weather Service — 2 from trained spotters or officials. These are measured stones, not radar estimates, so they are the closest thing to proof that hail actually reached the ground.
- 2.75″ baseball size Storm Chaser1 NE Story City, IA · 11.6 mi away5:26 PM CDTStory County
- 2.50″ hen egg size Storm Chaser2 NNE Roland, IA · 12.9 mi away5:19 PM CDTStory County
Between 2 to 2.5 inch hail. Damage to vehicles.
- 1.75″ golf ball size Trained Spotter4 N Roland, IA · 14.2 mi away5:15 PM CDTHamilton County
Golf ball size plus hail.
- 1.00″ quarter size NWS EmployeeLuther, IA · 11.2 mi away7:01 PM CDTBoone County
Reports come from the National Weather Service Local Storm Report feed, ingested every 15 minutes. A report records where the observer was, not the full extent of the swath — treat it as evidence about the storm, not about any one roof.
Ames hail on July 20, 2026
NOAA radar estimated stones up to 1.50 inches — half dollar size — within about 5 miles of Ames that day, across 2 distinct size bands. Sizes vary street to street inside a single swath.