Lake Lillian, MN Hail Storm – May 2026

A hail storm tracked through Lake Lillian, Minnesota on May 24, 2026, producing 1.93-inch stones and a string of NWS warnings and radar hail detections in the late afternoon and early evening.

What Happened

NWS monitored the cell cluster from 4:41 PM CDT to 7:39 PM CDT, issuing 12 alerts that alternated between NWS warning-only messages and radar-detected hail reports. The first NWS warning was issued at 4:41 PM CDT and the final radar hail detection was logged at 7:39 PM CDT. Several alerts included dual-polarization radar hail detections in addition to warning-only messages.

Dual-polarization radar flagged multiple cores crossing the Lake Lillian vicinity between late afternoon and early evening. A trained spotter reported half-dollar size hail in Woodstock at 6:05 PM CDT. That spotter-verified observation coincided with a radar hail detection issued minutes earlier and is recorded in the local storm report log.

Radar signatures showed repeated hail echoes along a roughly north-northeast track through the local warning area. NWS warnings repeatedly covered the corridor that includes Lake Lillian and adjacent townships. The sequence of warnings and radar detections indicates sustained hail-producing convection over roughly three hours.

Damage Assessment

Field data and radar detections indicate surface hail impacts concentrated near the Woodstock observation point and along the radar-derived swath that passed over Lake Lillian between late afternoon and early evening. The trained spotter in Woodstock reported half-dollar hail at 6:05 PM CDT. No other ground-truth reports were submitted in the immediate Lake Lillian municipal limits in the available record.

Where the radar hail cores crossed populated parcels, the most likely observed effects are denting to vehicle panels and damage to vulnerable roof coverings on properties located along the NWS warning area. Properties immediately downwind of the Woodstock report should be prioritized for inspection because the spotter observation aligns with a radar core that moved through that sector shortly after 6:00 PM CDT.

Inspectors working in the Lake Lillian area should expect localized patterns of impact rather than uniform coverage. Radar echoes show concentrated cores with gaps between stronger returns. Damage reports should therefore be mapped to parcel locations beneath the radar-derived hail swath and cross-checked against the time stamp of the 6:05 PM CDT spotter report when present.

What Contractors Should Know

Start inspections at properties closest to the Woodstock report and then move along the radar-derived hail swath through Lake Lillian. Prioritize roofs with asphalt shingles installed less than 10 years ago, metal panels with exposed fasteners, and vehicles parked outdoors during the 5:30–6:30 PM CDT window. Photograph roof fields and vehicle panels with scale references and capture GPS coordinates for each image. Note the local time on each photo to associate damage with specific radar detections.