Olivet, SD Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through Olivet, SD, on April 13, 2026, with spotter-verified stones reaching 1.75 inches late in the afternoon. The storm produced multiple NWS hail alerts from 3:50 PM CDT through 6:11 PM CDT as the hail core crossed the area.

The first alert at 3:50 PM CDT carried a 1-inch hail estimate with spotter-reported confidence. Additional warnings followed at 4:15 PM CDT, 4:59 PM CDT, 5:26 PM CDT, and 6:05 PM CDT, each carrying 1.25-inch hail estimates from the warning area. By 6:11 PM CDT, dual-polarization radar was detecting 1.25-inch hail in the storm core.

Field reports filled in the later part of the event. At 6:12 PM CDT, an mPING report in the area noted half-inch hail. At 6:34 PM CDT, a social media report with a photo placed hail at 1.75 inches. Two mPING reports at 6:40 PM CDT described ping pong ball hail at 1.5 inches and quarter-sized hail at 1 inch. The reports show a storm that kept producing sizable hail into early evening.

Damage Assessment

The strongest evidence points to a narrow hail swath with a mix of smaller stones and a later burst of larger hail. The 6:12 PM CDT mPING report of half-inch hail came before the larger verified reports, which suggests changing hail size within the same storm path as it moved across the Olivet area.

The 1.75-inch photo-based report is the largest field observation tied to the event. The 1.5-inch mPING report at 6:40 PM CDT follows close behind. Together, they place the peak impact in the early evening portion of the storm, after several earlier warning cycles had already identified a hail-producing core.

The damage picture remains hail-focused. The available reports do not show a separate wind-driven damage pattern. The field evidence centers on stone size, timing, and repeated hail reports across the warning area.

What Contractors Should Know

Work in and around Olivet should focus on the late-afternoon to early-evening hail path from April 13, 2026. Roofs, vents, soft metals, and siding in the reported corridor deserve close inspection, especially where hail size increased from the earlier 1-inch and 1.25-inch warnings to the later 1.5-inch and 1.75-inch field reports.

The warning area included several successive hail alerts over more than two hours. Crews should expect inconsistent surface impact from one block to the next. One property may show light impact while another only a short distance away carries more visible bruising, fractured shingles, or denting on exposed metal.

Use the 6:34 PM CDT photo report and the 6:40 PM CDT mPING observations as the best ground-truth anchors for the heaviest hail in the event. That gives a practical target for canvass timing and roof inspection priorities in the Olivet metro area.

For precise hail track data, review the paid Strike Map.