Poplar, MT Hail Storm – July 2026

A severe hail storm tracked through Poplar, Montana, on July 2, 2026, producing 3.00-inch stones and prompting repeated NWS alert areas from late afternoon into the overnight. The event combined multiple NWS warnings with dual-polarization radar hail detections across the Poplar metro.

What Happened

The storm sequence began with NWS warning-area products issued in the late afternoon and continued into the night, generating 34 discrete alerts covering the Poplar metro and nearby areas. Early alerts at 5:04 PM MDT and 5:18 PM MDT were NWS warning area updates that referenced 1-inch hail potential. Dual-polarization radar hail detections first appeared in our stream shortly after 5:50 PM MDT and recurred through the evening, with several radar-derived hail returns increasing in size as the cell complex matured.

An observer submitted a local storm report at 7:50 PM MDT and estimated large hail based on radar timing and returns. NWS warning areas and radar-derived hail detections alternated through the evening, including a cluster of radar hits between about 8:30 PM and 9:45 PM MDT that produced the strongest radar signatures. Activity tapered after 11:30 PM MDT, with the final radar hail detection recorded at 12:29 AM MDT on July 3.

Dual-polarization radar (NEXRAD hail detection) provided repeated evidence of elevated hail cores over the Poplar metro. Several NWS alert areas during the event advised of damaging hail potential, while a subset of alerts were radar-detected hail returns rather than spotter-only updates. The combined sequence produced a prolonged exposure period for the Poplar warning area.

Damage Assessment

NWS local storm reports for this event include the observer estimate noted above but do not list additional structured damage reports in the immediate Poplar city limits. Radar returns show concentrated hail cores crossing the Poplar metro and adjacent rural areas at multiple times during the evening, indicating pockets of intense hail fallout rather than a single narrow swath.

Field information and the alert record indicate the highest storm intensity passed near populated parts of the metro between mid-evening and late evening. No official local storm report recorded vehicle or residential structural damage in the NWS reports available with the storm record. Insurance and municipal crews should expect a spatially variable loss pattern in the metro and nearby agricultural properties consistent with pulses of stronger radar reflectivity and repeated warning-area coverage.

Where radar and warning-area overlaps occurred, expect greater likelihood of scattered roof, siding, and vehicle panel damage concentrated under the strongest radar cores. Outbuildings and exposed equipment in the surrounding rural sections of the Poplar warning area are the most likely locations for concentrated impact, based on the timing and placement of the radar-derived cores and the observer submission.