Ekalaka, MT Hail Storm – July 2025

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through Ekalaka, MT on 2025-07-19 and produced confirmed 2-inch hail during the late afternoon and evening. Nine NWS alerts tracked the storm from 4:24 PM MDT through 9:14 PM MDT, with radar confidence levels shifting from dual-polarization detections to spotter-verified reports.

The first alert at 4:24 PM MDT noted 2-inch hail. Later alerts held near the 1-inch to 2-inch range, including 1.25-inch hail at 5:29 PM MDT and repeat 2-inch hail at 5:50 PM MDT and 6:30 PM MDT. A 7:22 PM MDT alert listed 1.75-inch hail on warning-based confidence alone, followed by dual-polarization radar detections of 1-inch hail at 7:59 PM MDT. By 8:12 PM MDT and again at 9:14 PM MDT, the storm carried radar plus spotter verification.

Field reports matched the storm structure. At 9:38 PM MDT, a spotter reported, "Mostly peas with a few golf balls." That report came in at 1.75 inches and was logged twice in the ground-truth feed. The sequence shows a storm that maintained hail production into the evening, with the most reliable observations arriving near the end of the event.

Damage Assessment

The ground reports point to mixed hail at the surface. The spotter account of mostly pea-sized hail with a few golf balls indicates a narrow band of larger stones within a broader field of smaller hail. That pattern fits the alert sequence, which held several 1-inch to 2-inch readings across the event window.

In Ekalaka, the likely impact varied block by block. Roofs, soft metal surfaces, vents, and exposed plastics would have taken the brunt of the larger stones where the golf ball hail fell. Vehicles left outside during the strongest bursts were exposed to denting on hoods, roofs, mirrors, and trim. Smaller hail fell around the larger stones, so some locations likely saw scattered damage while others stayed near nuisance-level impact.

The most important detail for field crews is the spread between the radar alerts and the spotter report. The alerts show repeated hail detection over several hours. The report at 9:38 PM MDT shows larger stones reaching the surface after the earlier radar detections. For contractors, that means the event cannot be treated as a single-size hail swath. The same storm produced more than one hail regime across the evening.

What Contractors Should Know

Start with the late-afternoon to evening window. The storm produced verified hail from 4:24 PM MDT through 9:14 PM MDT, so canvass crews should focus on properties that were exposed during that span. Homes, shops, farm buildings, and parked vehicles in and around Ekalaka may show different damage profiles depending on when the larger stones passed overhead.

Roof inspections should not stop at obvious punctures. A storm that mixed pea hail with a few golf balls can leave bruised shingles, lifted edges, dented flashing, and damaged accessory components without obvious openings from the street. Check gutters, downspouts, roof penetrations, skylights, and soft metal wraps. Look closely at south- and west-facing exposures where the strongest afternoon storm core may have hit first.