Henderson, MN Hail Storm – July 2025

What Happened

A severe hail storm crossed the Henderson, MN area on July 21, 2025, with verified 2-inch hail and multiple radar- and spotter-confirmed warning areas through the afternoon. The storm produced repeated hail reports from early afternoon into late afternoon, with the strongest confirmed readings centered around 1:57 PM CDT and again in later field reports.

The first National Weather Service alert in this sequence came at 12:51 PM CDT with 1.5-inch hail and radar plus spotter verification. Another 1.5-inch alert followed at 1:26 PM CDT. The storm then intensified, and by 1:57 PM CDT the warning area carried a 2-inch hail report with the same radar and spotter confidence. A final alert at 2:27 PM CDT still showed 1.5-inch hail as the storm moved on.

Ground reports lined up with that progression. A spotter report at 1:20 PM CDT noted many 3 to 4 inch branches down and one tree down. At 1:50 PM CDT, observers reported quarter to golfball size hail. A 1:58 PM CDT report near the Kwik Trip in St Peter listed quarter-sized hail. Later reports at 2:15 PM CDT and 2:52 PM CDT both corrected earlier hail observations to 2 inches, with timing estimated via radar.

The storm stayed organized across the broader Henderson metro area for several hours. The field reports show a mix of hail sizes and localized impacts along the storm path, with the strongest reports arriving after the first wave of warning activity and before the final afternoon alert.

Damage Assessment

The surface impact was uneven, but the field reports show enough force to strip small limbs and put branches on the ground near the start of the event. The 1:20 PM CDT report of multiple 3 to 4 inch branches down and one tree down was the clearest non-hail damage note in the report set.

Hail impacts were reported at several points along the storm path. Quarter-sized hail was confirmed near St Peter at 1:58 PM CDT. Other spotter reports around 1:50 PM CDT described hail up to golfball size. Later corrections to 2-inch hail at 2:15 PM CDT and 2:52 PM CDT placed the larger stones later in the event, after the storm had already produced smaller hail and minor tree debris.

The reports do not show a single concentrated damage corridor in the public record, but they do show a storm with repeated hail production and spotter-confirmed impact across the Henderson area and nearby communities. That includes both the earlier branch damage note and the later 2-inch hail corrections tied to radar timing.

For roofing, siding, and soft metal crews, the key field indicator is the mix of sizes across the afternoon. The storm was not limited to one brief burst. It produced multiple hail reports over more than an hour, which usually means inspections need to account for more than one impact window.

What Contractors Should Know