Norman, OK Hail Storm – April 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm crossed the Norman, OK metro on April 11, 2026, producing 1.5-inch hail and a long run of NWS warning areas through the afternoon and evening. The storm was active from mid-afternoon into the early overnight hours, with the strongest hail signal arriving near 3:58 PM CDT.

Storm alerts began at 2:58 PM CDT with 1-inch hail in the warning area, then repeated through the afternoon as the system strengthened and shifted east. The largest hail size in the alert stream reached 2 inches at 5:55 PM CDT, followed by multiple 1.25-inch and 1-inch hail alerts through the evening. Later alerts after 8 PM CDT trended smaller, but they continued into the night and into early April 12, including 1-inch hail at 1:14 AM CDT and 0.75-inch hail at 1:56 AM CDT.

Field reports were limited but useful. At 4:43 PM CDT, a spotter report from Grandfield described quarter-sized hail. At 5:46 PM CDT, an mPING report again described quarter-sized hail, matching the broader hail threat that moved through the region during the late afternoon. The storm carried 28 NWS alerts in total.

Damage Assessment

The surface impact was consistent with a hail-producing storm that held onto severe size for several hours, but the public reports did not show a broad cluster of major damage claims in the Norman metro. The verified reports point to quarter-sized hail in the path, while the NWS alert sequence showed a wider range of hail estimates, including 1.25-inch, 1.5-inch, and 2-inch calls in the warning area.

That mix suggests hail cores moved through more than one part of the metro over time rather than a single compact burst. The hail threat was not confined to one short window. It stretched from late afternoon into the night, with smaller hail readings after the largest early-evening estimates.

For property managers and homeowners in Norman, the main concern is roof, screen, and gutter exposure where the heavier cores passed. Vehicles parked outside during the late-afternoon and early-evening windows were also exposed to repeated hail bursts. Reports from Grandfield and the mPING spotter line up with the broader hail field, but the public record here does not show widespread catastrophic loss.

What Contractors Should Know

This event covered a long time window and multiple hail sizes, which means inspection routes should not assume a single impact zone. Crews working Norman should focus first on roofs, soft metals, HVAC fins, window screens, and fence caps in the areas that took repeated afternoon and evening hits. Check slopes and accessories separately. A roof can show mixed impact patterns when hail size changed over the course of the storm.

Pay attention to delays between the first alert and the larger hail estimates. The storm began with 1-inch hail warnings at 2:58 PM CDT and later reached 2 inches by 5:55 PM CDT. Properties that looked minor during the first pass may still have taken stronger impacts later. Afternoon-to-night events often leave uneven loss patterns across a metro, especially when the storm keeps recycling through the same general corridor.