Hoxie, KS Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through Hoxie, KS, on April 11, 2026, and produced a peak hail size of 2 inches. The event unfolded from late afternoon into early evening, with multiple warning area updates through 8:36 PM CDT.

The first hail signal came at 4:37 PM CDT, when dual-polarization radar indicated 1.75-inch hail. At 5:07 PM CDT, a spotter reported 1-inch hail. Another radar-derived alert followed at 5:55 PM CDT with 1.5-inch hail. Later alerts at 6:17 PM CDT and 6:36 PM CDT both held at 0.75 inch on dual-polarization radar. The final three alerts, issued at 6:58 PM CDT, 7:45 PM CDT, and 8:36 PM CDT, continued to show 0.75-inch hail in NWS warning-only data.

A spotter report at 5:14 PM CDT described "quite a bit of hail that fell" and noted that the hail had ended by the time of the report. That report was spotter-verified at 0.75 inch.

The sequence points to a hail-producing storm that held together across the Hoxie area for several hours. Radar and field reports aligned early in the event, then later warning-area updates kept hail in the storm profile into the evening.

Damage Assessment

Field reports from the Hoxie storm point to hail reaching the ground in a concentrated burst during the middle of the event. The spotter-verified 5:14 PM CDT report described heavy hailfall before the storm ended, with measured hail at 0.75 inch. The radar history also showed larger stones earlier in the storm, including the 1.75-inch and 1.5-inch detections.

No widespread damage notes were included in the reports provided here, but the hail profile was strong enough to support roof, siding, and vehicle inspection across the warning area. Contractors working this event should expect mixed claims patterns, with some properties showing only minor surface strikes and others carrying more obvious impact marks on soft metals, vents, and roof slopes facing the storm path.

The timing matters for inspections. The hail fell in a series of waves from mid-afternoon into evening, not as a single short burst. Crews should check more than one exposure on each property. West- and south-facing elevations often show the first visible marks after a storm pattern like this, especially when hail arrives alongside repeated warning updates.

What Contractors Should Know

Start with the properties tied to the earlier part of the storm near the first radar-detected hail signals at 4:37 PM CDT and 5:55 PM CDT. Those periods carried the larger hail detections. Later warning-only updates still showed hail, but at 0.75 inch, so damage intensity may vary by part of town and by the timing of each cell pulse.

Use roof inspections to sort claims by actual field impact, not by warning count alone. In a storm like this, light bruising on shingles can appear alongside more visible impact on gutters, downspouts, window screens, and AC fins. Metal trim, carports, and uncovered vehicles are also worth checking when a hail burst is documented by both radar and a spotter report.