Merrill, WI Hail Storm – July 2025

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through Merrill, Wisconsin, on July 19, 2025, with verified stones up to 1.5 inches and a spotter-confirmed report of 1.75-inch hail near 5:42 AM CDT.

The first NWS alert in the event came at 5:00 AM CDT, with radar and spotter verification supporting 1.5-inch hail in the Merrill area. A second alert followed at 5:43 AM CDT with the same verified hail size. By 6:28 AM CDT, dual-polarization radar again supported 1.5-inch hail detection as the storm continued across the broader warning area.

The strongest ground-truth report came at 5:42 AM CDT, when a local storm report relayed through law enforcement documented 1.75-inch hail. That report placed larger stones in the same early-morning window as the first two alerts and gives the event a clear peak near daybreak.

Radar and spotter data aligned on a compact hail-producing storm sequence. The event did not stretch through the afternoon. It came in a short early-morning burst, with repeated hail confirmation over a little more than an hour.

Damage Assessment

The field reports point to a concentrated hail strike across Merrill before sunrise, with the largest verified stones reported through law enforcement at 5:42 AM CDT. The repeated 1.5-inch alerts and the spotter-verified 1.75-inch report indicate surface impact strong enough to warrant close inspection of roofs, gutters, skylights, soft metals, and vehicle finishes in and around the city.

For contractors, the key detail is the timing. Crews looking at this event should focus on early-morning exposure. Vehicles parked overnight, roof systems with aging shingles, and light-gauge exterior components were in the path when hail coverage was confirmed twice within minutes. The spotter report suggests that some locations saw larger stones than the radar minimum, so visual checks should not stop at the first obvious strike marks.

In this storm, the damage picture is driven more by the short window of verified hail than by a long-duration event. That often leaves a mixed field. Some structures show obvious bruising or metal impact. Others carry only scattered loss that is easier to miss on a quick drive-by. In Merrill, that makes a slow, block-by-block inspection more useful than a broad-area assumption about uniform severity.

What Contractors Should Know

Start with the neighborhoods that lined up with the early-morning hail reports. Around 5:00 AM CDT through 6:30 AM CDT, Merrill sat under repeated hail confirmation, and the law-enforcement relay at 5:42 AM CDT points to a peak window for roof and vehicle claims. Crews should prioritize slope changes, north-facing roof sections, dormers, and any property with exposed soft metals or older asphalt systems.

Expect inspection work to be uneven. A storm with this kind of timing can leave one block with clear impact and the next with limited visible damage. On residential roofs, check for fresh bruising, displaced granules, fractured mat lines, and collateral impacts on vents, caps, and flashing. On commercial properties, look closely at TPO seams, rooftop equipment housings, and thin metal trim.