Ponca City, OK Hail Storm – May 2026

A severe hail storm tracked through Ponca City, Oklahoma on May 8, 2026, producing 3.42-inch stones and multiple radar-detected hail cores across the metro in late afternoon into the evening.

What Happened

The storm complex generated 80 NWS alert-area messages as it progressed across the Ponca City metro and nearby corridors. Dual-polarization NEXRAD detected repeated hail cores from mid-afternoon into after sunset. Several radar returns registered stones larger than baseball size during late afternoon growth cycles, and spotter reports verified large concentrations at multiple points along the track.

Media storm trackers relayed spotter-verified 2.75-inch hail at 4:46 PM CDT in the metro fringe. Radar and spotter reports again clustered in the early evening, including spotter-verified 2.75-inch reports time-stamped at 6:38 PM CDT and a broadcast-media-supplied photo of vehicle damage attributed to tennis-ball–size hail around 8:49 PM CDT. Earlier in the sequence, observers near Burbank reported golf ball to hen-egg sized hail around 3:30 PM CDT that reportedly nearly covered the ground.

NEXRAD dual-polarization detections showed repeated cores in the 2.3–2.97-inch range during the strongest returns. Several of those radar detections were corroborated by spotter submissions and citizen mPING reports, including a 2.25-inch hen-egg report logged at 7:17 PM CDT. The NWS issued multiple warning-area statements tied to the same storm complex; a number of those alerts carried only NWS-warning-area attribution without ground reports.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and broadcast media imagery indicate concentrated surface impacts on vehicles and exposed equipment in and around Ponca City and along the storm path through Burbank and north of Wagoner. Broadcast media provided vehicle damage photos at about 8:49 PM CDT showing hail consistent with tennis-ball size on metal panels. Four separate media storm tracker submissions at 4:46 PM CDT recorded 2.75-inch stones in the metro fringe; those spotter-verified reports align with radar cores observed at the same times.

Local accounts from Burbank at about 3:30 PM CDT describe golf ball to occasional hen-egg sized hail accumulating to near ground-covering amounts. Observers reporting along Highway 69 one mile north of Wagoner at 6:56 PM CDT documented two-inch hail. The distribution of verified reports places the most severe surface impacts on the south and eastern approaches to Ponca City and along the line of strongest radar echoes.

Reported damage so far centers on vehicle body panels, exposed HVAC and satellite equipment, and ground-level soft coverings in areas where spotters and media documented large stones. Photographic evidence provided to the NWS and relayed by broadcasters shows panel punctures and shattered vehicle glass in at least one case. There are multiple, separate locations with 2.5- to 2.75-inch spotter reports and several radar-detected cores that correspond to those locations.

Ponca City, OK Hail Storm – May 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 80

What Happened

Damage Assessment

Storm Details

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