De Soto, WI Hail Storm – September 2025

What Happened

A severe hail storm crossed De Soto, Wisconsin, on September 22, 2025, producing 2-inch stones during the late afternoon and early evening. The storm stayed active for hours, with radar and spotter-verified alerts and field reports confirming repeated hail across the metro area.

The first hail alerts came at 2:03 PM CDT and 2:36 PM CDT, both for 1-inch hail with radar and spotter verification. Another 1-inch alert followed at 4:14 PM CDT. The storm then intensified. Alerts at 5:59 PM CDT and 6:02 PM CDT carried 2-inch hail reports with radar and spotter verification.

At 6:13 PM CDT, a spotter reported being hit by up to 2-inch hail while driving, with the report relayed again from the same time stamp in the local storm report stream. A 6:29 PM CDT report relayed via NWS Chat noted 1-inch hail. Later alerts from dual-polarization radar detected 1.5-inch hail at 6:47 PM CDT, followed by several 1-inch alerts through 9:30 PM CDT. Spotter reports at 9:38 PM CDT and 9:42 PM CDT documented dime-size hail near the end of the event.

Damage Assessment

The field reports show a storm that produced concentrated hail impacts along the De Soto metro corridor, with the most direct confirmation coming from a motorist struck by 2-inch hail at 6:13 PM CDT. The repeat 2-inch alerts near 6 PM CDT line up with that report and with the later 1-inch report relayed through NWS Chat.

The damage picture is mixed rather than uniform. The storm produced multiple rounds of hail, but the reports after 9 PM CDT dropped to dime-size stones. That pattern points to a hail core that pulsed through the area rather than a single short burst. In practical terms, the highest-risk inspection areas are the structures and vehicles that sat inside the early evening path, especially where the 2-inch reports and the 1.5-inch dual-polarization detections overlap.

For roof and vehicle checks, the main concern is localized impact loading. Two-inch hail can leave clear bruising on softer roofing materials, mark skylights, dent exposed metal, and chip exterior trim. The spotter reports do not indicate a widespread wind or flooding event. The hail was the main hazard.

What Contractors Should Know

Start with the early evening band. The strongest hail signatures and the most serious ground report both cluster around 5:59 PM CDT to 6:13 PM CDT. That is the first field window worth canvassing in De Soto and the immediate metro area. Focus on north-south and east-west travel corridors where customers may have driven through the hail core and on homes with exposed roof planes, gutters, and soft metal surfaces.

Expect a mixed claim profile. Some addresses likely saw only brief 1-inch hail, while others were hit during the 2-inch pulse. The later 0.75-inch reports do not cancel the earlier damage potential. They show the storm weakened after the peak, which is common in multi-round hail events. Inspectors should separate early evening impact points from later light-hail locations instead of treating the entire day as one uniform loss field.