Rapid City, SD Hail Storm – July 2025

What Happened

A severe hail storm crossed Rapid City, SD, on July 20, 2025, with peak verified hail at 2.75 inches and multiple rounds of large hail through the evening. The storm began with a 2:51 PM CDT alert showing 1-inch hail on dual-polarization radar, then intensified after 5:10 PM CDT as radar and spotters supported 1.25-inch hail.

By 6:17 PM CDT, the warning area included 2-inch hail, followed by a 1.75-inch alert at 6:32 PM CDT. The storm reached its strongest radar and field-confirmed phase around 7 PM CDT, when alerts at 7:00 PM, 7:22 PM, 7:41 PM, and 7:43 PM CDT all carried 2.75-inch hail. Spotter reports during that window described hail “most baseball size” at 6:45 PM CDT, repeated in multiple reports from the same time period. Another spotter report at 7:43 PM CDT described hail “most quarter size” after 15 minutes of continued hail.

Later alerts kept hail in the large range. A 9:03 PM CDT alert showed 1.75-inch hail, followed by a 9:52 PM CDT alert with 1-inch hail. Spotter reports at 9:55 PM CDT said “most was smaller,” with 1-inch hail verified twice. The storm stayed active across the metro for several hours, with hail size varying by pulse and location inside the warning area.

Damage Assessment

The field reports point to a broad hail footprint across Rapid City, not a single narrow track. Three spotter-verified reports at 6:45 PM CDT described hail as “most baseball size” and placed the largest stones at 4 inches. A later report at 7:43 PM CDT still noted continuing hail after 15 minutes, with most stones around quarter size. By 9:55 PM CDT, reports had dropped to 1-inch hail in the later phase of the storm.

That mix of sizes suggests uneven surface impact across the metro. Locations inside the strongest part of the storm likely saw roof, siding, and vehicle strikes from the larger hail, while areas farther from the core saw smaller stones later in the event. The repeated 2.75-inch alerts from 7 PM through 7:43 PM CDT match the period when the most severe reports were filed.

This storm produced a layered hail pattern. Early hail was smaller. The middle phase brought the largest stones and the strongest verified reports. The later phase remained severe but lighter. For property checks, that means damage can vary block to block, with the most serious impacts concentrated in the window from roughly 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM CDT.

What Contractors Should Know

Rapid City saw a long-duration hail event with multiple intensity swings. Start with the neighborhoods that fell inside the 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM CDT peak window. That is where the 4-inch spotter reports lined up with the 2.75-inch radar alerts. Exterior inspections should begin there before crews move outward to later-hit areas that saw smaller hail after 9 PM CDT.

Expect mixed claims across the metro. Some properties will show obvious roof or soft-metal impacts. Others will have lighter, more scattered signs from the later hail phases. The field reports support a storm with more than one hail pulse, so a single street can produce different damage conditions from one roofline to the next.

Rapid City, SD Hail Storm – July 2025

NWS WARNING AREAS · 66

What Happened

Damage Assessment

What Contractors Should Know

Storm Details

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