Lincoln, KS Hail Storm – May 2026

A late-afternoon to early-evening hail storm moved through the Lincoln, KS metro on May 18, 2026, producing large, fast-falling stones and repeated radar and spotter detections. Peak surface evidence included spotter-verified photographs of hail next to a ruler.

What Happened

The event produced 157 NWS-issued alerts between 1:08 PM CDT and 12:21 AM CDT the following day. The first warnings began in the early afternoon, and the most active period extended through the late afternoon and early evening. Dual-polarization NEXRAD hail detection flagged multiple strong cores during the 2:00 PM–7:00 PM CDT window, and several NWS warning-only updates tracked the evolving cells after dark.

Spotter activity began early in the event. At 1:58 PM CDT trained observers reported hail near Highway 14 and Jaguar Road. Drive-by spotters later noted large stones on Hwy 77 south toward Beatrice in the mid-afternoon. Multiple public and trained spotters submitted reports around 4:43 PM CDT of golf ball–size hail north of Auburn. At 5:04 PM CDT a trained spotter reported golf ball–size hail 7.5 miles south of Friend. In the early evening, at 7:00 PM CDT, emergency management relayed photographs showing stones next to a ruler with the largest marked greater than 2.5 inches; that set of photographs was reported by multiple field observers.

Radar and spotter data overlapped through the event. Dual-polarization radar detected several cores with echo signatures consistent with large hail across the Lincoln metro and adjacent reporting zones. NWS warnings repeatedly supplemented radar detections as storms evolved and moved through late afternoon into nighttime.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and radar indications point to concentrated surface impacts along several corridors reported by spotters. Photographs relayed to emergency management at 7:00 PM CDT show very large stones at a specific location reported by multiple observers. Trained spotters and public reports consistently described golf ball–size hail near Highway 14 and Jaguar Road, north of Auburn, along Hwy 77 toward Beatrice, and about 7.5 miles south of Friend. Those locations received the most consistent ground corroboration across the reporting window.

Radar-derived hail swaths align with the sequence of spotter reports through the late afternoon and early evening. NWS warning polygons repeatedly encompassed the corridors where spotters and radar both indicated large cores. Where spotters documented impact photographs, surface evidence indicates localized, high-intensity hail fall rather than uniform coverage across the entire metro.

Observed impacts in the field reports include multiple image-based verifications and repeated public accounts of golf ball–size hail in discrete neighborhoods and along state highways. Inspectors arriving at sites within the reported corridors should expect clustered areas of damage rather than even distribution across the county lines referenced in warnings.

Lincoln, KS Hail Storm – May 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 160

What Happened

Damage Assessment

Storm Details

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