Hastings, MI Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm moved through Hastings, MI, on April 13, 2026, with spotter-verified reports up to 2 inches and repeated NWS hail alerts through the evening. The storm reached the area in the early evening and continued to produce hail into the 8 PM hour.

NWS alerts were issued at 7:19 PM EDT, 8:02 PM EDT, and 8:29 PM EDT, each calling for 1-inch hail in the warning area. Field reports filled in the surface impact. At 7:50 PM EDT, law enforcement and media reported quarter- to half-dollar-sized hail, with a mapped size of 1.25 inches. At 8:04 PM EDT, an mPING report logged quarter-size hail at 1 inch.

Radar-derived hail detection tracked the storm through the Hastings metro during the same window. The report sequence shows a storm that held organized hail production for at least an hour, with repeated hail threat messaging and spotter-verified ground truth as it crossed the area.

Damage Assessment

The surface impact centered on hail, not wind. The field reports point to a corridor of hard-fall ice that reached at least 1.25 inches in spots, with additional 1-inch hail verified minutes later. The radar track and spotter reports align on a hail-producing storm that remained capable of producing damaging hail through the evening.

For property work, that pattern usually means roof, soft-metal, and exterior trim checks across the storm path. Hastings and the surrounding metro area should be reviewed for bruised shingles, fractured vinyl, dented gutters, and impacts to skylights, vents, and condensers. The 7:50 PM report from law enforcement and media is the clearest ground observation in the sequence, and it places the larger stones in the middle of the event rather than at the edge.

The 8:04 PM mPING report adds a second spotter-verified data point near the same period. That kind of close-together reporting usually supports a narrow hail core rather than a brief isolated burst. In practice, that means inspection priority should stay on the storm path rather than the wider metro area.

What Contractors Should Know

Start with the neighborhoods and commercial strips inside the hail path from the early evening window. Repeated 1-inch hail alerts and spotter reports of larger stones suggest a straight inspection route across the affected corridor is more efficient than a broad canvass of the entire Hastings metro. Focus on slopes, ridge lines, and accessory structures first. Those are the places where hail claims usually surface fastest after a storm like this.

Check metal roofing, downspouts, window wraps, garage doors, and HVAC fins in addition to shingles. The report set includes both law enforcement and media at 7:50 PM EDT, which points to visible hail on the ground and likely immediate surface impacts in exposed areas. Pay attention to properties with recent replacement work or mixed roof materials. Those often show damage inconsistently across small distances.