Lake Norden, SD Hail Storm – June 2026

A hail-producing storm moved through Lake Norden, South Dakota, on June 4, 2026, producing stones up to 2.75 inches and triggering a sequence of NWS hail alerts and spotter reports.

What Happened

NWS issued 25 hail alerts for the Lake Norden area between 2:08 PM CDT and 11:52 PM CDT on June 4. Dual-polarization NEXRAD detected multiple hail cores through the afternoon and evening, and spotters provided on-the-ground observations during the early surge.

At 2:27 PM CDT a spotter reported torrential rain with mainly pea-size hail and a few dime-size stones. Twelve minutes later, at 2:39 PM CDT, crew-submitted photographs were described by a spotter as showing a range from golf-ball to baseball-size hail; those images were logged alongside the alerts. Radar detections in the midafternoon and evening included a sequence of dual-polarization hail echoes ranging from near 1.0 inch to 2.5 inches, with an additional radar-plus-spotter verification at 7:09 PM CDT. Several later alerts were issued as NWS warning-only notices, indicating warning polygons remained in effect even when radar returns lacked corroborating dual-polarization signatures.

The event produced repeated hail-producing cores rather than a single continuous swath. Early afternoon activity centered on the town and immediate outskirts. Additional radar-detected cores passed near the area in the late afternoon and early evening, with notable dual-polarization returns recorded at 6:27 PM CDT and another verified core just after 7:00 PM CDT. The final NWS alerts for the system extended past 11:00 PM CDT as the complex moved away from the Lake Norden warning areas.

Damage Assessment

Photographs submitted from Lake Norden at 2:39 PM CDT show mixed-size stones collected on paved surfaces and in shallow accumulations. Spotter notes from the same time describe sizes ranging from golf ball to baseball in local collections. An earlier field report at 2:27 PM CDT described torrential rain and mostly pea-size hail with occasional dime-size pieces.

Radar and spotter reports together indicate two distinct impact periods within the Lake Norden warning areas: an early-afternoon core with high-density small-to-medium stones, and later cores with isolated larger stones. The provided field reports do not include specific accounts of structural collapse or confirmed widespread roof failure. Contractors and insurers in Lake Norden should expect concentrated vehicle denting, localized broken glazing where present, and isolated shingle damage in properties that reported large-stone observations or submitted photographic evidence.

NWS warning polygons covered the town during multiple passes of hail-producing cores. A subset of alerts carried only NWS warning attribution, indicating times when warning polygons remained active without matching dual-polarization radar signatures. The combination of spotter-verified large stones and multiple radar-detected cores suggests impact variability across short distances within the warning area.