Oklahoma City, OK Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through the Oklahoma City metro on April 1, 2026, with spotter-verified hail reaching 2.5 inches and multiple rounds of smaller stones through the evening. The storm produced a long sequence of NWS alerts from 4:51 PM CDT through 11:20 PM CDT.

The first reports came in late afternoon with spotter-verified hail near 1 to 1.25 inches. By 5:47 PM CDT, an mPING report documented tennis ball hail at 2.50 inches. Ten minutes later, another ground report from mPING confirmed quarter-size hail at 1.00 inch. Those field reports anchored the early phase of the event.

Radar-derived alerts continued through the evening. Most reports stayed in the 1 to 1.75 inch range, with a brief radar-detected peak at 7:07 PM CDT showing 2.5-inch hail and a second dual-polarization detection of 2 inches at 7:56 PM CDT. Additional spotter reports followed into the night, including 1-inch hail at 9:33 PM CDT and again at 11:20 PM CDT.

Damage Assessment

The ground reports show a hail event with enough size and repetition to affect a wide range of surfaces across the Oklahoma City metro. The confirmed 2.5-inch report from 5:47 PM CDT is the largest field verification in the storm sequence. The 1-inch report at 5:57 PM CDT confirms smaller hail followed close behind in the same event window.

This pattern points to a mixed hail footprint rather than a single brief burst. Field crews in the storm path should expect concentrated impacts on vehicles parked outdoors, soft metals, roof accessories, gutters, vents, and older shingles. The repeated 1 to 1.75 inch reports through the evening also support a broad canvass for denting on exposed horizontal surfaces.

The radar detections later in the evening matched the field side of the event. Two separate dual-polarization detections reached 2 inches or greater, one at 7:07 PM CDT and another at 7:56 PM CDT. Those detections came after the initial verified reports and show the storm maintained hail-producing strength for hours across the metro.

What Contractors Should Know

This was a metro-wide hail event with a long timeline. Crews should not treat it as a single neighborhood claim cycle. The report set stretches from late afternoon into late evening, which means inspections should account for multiple hail passes and delayed call volume from different parts of the Oklahoma City area.

Focus first on the addresses that sit inside the warning area and on neighborhoods that reported the largest stones early in the event. Tennis ball hail at 5:47 PM CDT and dual-polarization detections later in the evening make roofline and accessory damage more likely on the same property, especially on south- and west-facing exposures that took repeated strikes.

Use a close inspection pattern on asphalt shingles, ridge caps, pipe boots, window screens, fence tops, HVAC fins, and detached structures. In events with repeated 1-inch to 1.75-inch hail, cosmetic roof claims often appear beside functional damage on the same route. Crews should also check for fresh collateral hits on vehicles and soft metal trim where hail size increased later in the storm.

Oklahoma City, OK Hail Storm – April 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 72

What Happened

Damage Assessment

What Contractors Should Know

Storm Details

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