North Freedom, WI Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through North Freedom, WI, on April 13, 2026, with the strongest hail estimated at 4 inches. Spotter reports and dual-polarization radar detections tracked the storm from mid-afternoon into late evening across the Custer, WI metro area.

The first hail signals came at 3:09 PM CDT with radar-detected 1.5-inch stones. Additional radar detections followed at 4:17 PM CDT and 4:43 PM CDT, then spotter reports began coming in at 4:22 PM CDT with 1-inch hail. By 4:52 PM CDT, radar was picking up 1.75-inch hail, and the storm continued to produce overlapping alerts through the evening.

By 5:30 PM CDT, radar showed 3.75-inch hail. Six minutes later, a 2.25-inch radar detection came in, and at 5:56 PM CDT a spotter-verified 3.5-inch report was logged. The storm kept a mixed radar and ground-report signature through the rest of the evening, with 2-inch and 1.75-inch hail repeatedly detected between 6 PM and 8 PM CDT.

Ground reports filled in the surface picture. At 5:52 PM CDT, mPING reported hen egg size hail. At 6:13 PM CDT, another mPING report placed hail at 2.5 inches. A social media report with pictures and a ruler at 6:20 PM CDT documented 2-inch stones. Additional 1.75-inch reports came from spotters at 6:34 PM CDT and 6:46 PM CDT, followed by a 3-inch spotter-verified report at 7:03 PM CDT after the hail core had already passed that location.

The storm remained active into the night. Radar detected 1.5-inch hail at 8:49 PM CDT, and a warning-only report at 8:57 PM CDT listed 1.75-inch hail. A final radar detection at 10:13 PM CDT still showed 1.25-inch hail.

Damage Assessment

The field reports show a hail event with repeated large stones, not a brief marginal burst. Verified reports reached 3 inches, 2.75 inches, 2.5 inches, and 2.25 inches across the evening, with several 2-inch reports from mPING and social media documentation. The report at 6:20 PM CDT with pictures and a ruler gives direct surface evidence from the storm core.

Roof, siding, vehicle, and outdoor property impacts are the main concerns in a storm like this. The report sequence shows large hail arriving in waves, with 1.75-inch to 3-inch stones documented across multiple times and locations in the warning area. That pattern points to repeated strike exposure rather than a single isolated hit.

The 3-inch report at 7:03 PM CDT is notable because it came after the hail core had already passed that location. It confirms large hail on the ground even where the heaviest stones were missed by the first round of reporting. The 2.5-inch, 2.75-inch, and 2-inch reports fill in the same storm corridor with similar surface impact.

The warning area also contained many radar detections between 1 inch and 3.75 inches, including several 2-inch and 2.25-inch readings. One late warning-only report at 8:57 PM CDT listed 1.75-inch hail without a matching radar note in this dataset. The broader event still shows a hail swath with repeated large-stone impacts across North Freedom and the surrounding metro area.

North Freedom, WI Hail Storm – April 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 66

What Happened

Damage Assessment

Storm Details

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