Albany, TX Hail Storm – May 2026

A hail-producing severe storm tracked through Albany, TX on May 10, 2026, producing a peak spotter-verified stone of 4.05 inches and multiple radar-detected hail cores. The event generated 27 NWS alerts across the afternoon and evening and produced clustered spotter reports along rural corridors east of Albany.

What Happened

NWS warnings began at 1:35 PM CDT and continued through 10:23 PM CDT, with 27 alert issuances covering the evolving hail threat. Dual-polarization radar flagged repeated hail cores from mid-afternoon into the evening. Several warnings included radar detections followed by spotter reports that matched the radar timing.

Field reports anchored the timeline. At 6:20 PM CDT a media chaser recorded 4-inch diameter hail just east of the intersection of Highway 22 and County Road 224. Two minutes later, at 6:22 PM CDT, multiple Facebook submissions reported baseball-size hail on CR 414. A photo submitted at 6:13 PM CDT showed 2-inch hail in Lanham. Later, between 7:28 PM and 7:36 PM CDT, observers reported tennis-ball-size hail in and near Flat. Multiple mPING submissions around 7:58–8:01 PM CDT registered golf-ball-sized hail.

Radar and spotter reports were closely aligned. Dual-polarization radar detections preceded and overlapped spotter-verified cores in the 6:00–6:40 PM CDT window and again in the 7:00–8:15 PM CDT window. Several NWS advisories listed radar-derived hail estimates, and several later warnings were explicitly supported by on-the-ground spotter measurements.

Damage Assessment

Field reports indicate concentrated large-hail impacts along the Highway 22 corridor east of CR 224, on CR 414, in Lanham, and in the Flat area. The 6:20 PM CDT media chaser account and the 6:22 PM CDT social-media submissions place the most extreme surface impacts on rural properties and road corridors east of Albany. Photo and citizen-observer submissions show sizable hail accumulation in Lanham and select county-road intersections.

Radar-derived hail cores produced a detectable swath that aligns with the spotter clusters. NWS warning areas covered the same corridor during the event and overlapped with the times of the largest on-the-ground reports. The distribution of reports suggests the heaviest surface impacts were localized to stretches of county roads and farm properties rather than uniformly across the entire warning area.

No centralized municipal damage survey is included in these reports. The field observations are the primary indicators of surface impact intensity and location for this event.

What Contractors Should Know

Prioritize inspections for properties within the reported clusters: the Highway 22 and County Road 224 intersection, CR 414, Lanham, and Flat. Start with time-stamped exterior photos of roofs, siding, vehicles, and exterior mechanical units at arrival. Document hail impressions against scale objects or rulers in photographs and note the observer report time when present.