Sarles, ND Hail Storm – July 2026

A severe hail storm moved through Sarles, North Dakota on July 9, 2026, producing stones up to 3.55 inches and generating repeated NWS warnings and radar hail detections during the late afternoon and early evening.

What Happened

The event began in mid-afternoon and persisted into the late evening, with 32 NWS alerts issued between 4:18 PM CDT and 10:57 PM CDT. Dual-polarization radar flagged repeated hail returns through the core of the storm, and NWS warning-only alerts tracked the storm as it progressed. Radar-detected hail reports included multiple returns above two inches at successive scans, with several 2.5–2.75-inch radar detections logged in the 6:00–9:30 PM CDT window.

Spotter-verified observations came from within the Sarles area and nearby communities. At 5:48 PM CDT spotters described most hail in the quarter- to golf-ball range with a few tennis-ball stones, and recorded stones near 2.5 inches. At 6:50 PM CDT a spotter reported mostly pea-size hail with occasional dime-to-quarter stones and heavy rainfall; that report estimated hail duration at about five minutes. A public report relayed at approximately 7:00 PM CDT measured 2.5-inch stones by ruler and tied that observation to the radar-estimated 7:00 PM CDT timeframe.

The event alternated between clusters of radar-detected larger hail returns and shorter periods covered only by NWS warning polygons. Several of the larger radar returns coincided with the spotter-verified observations in early evening, providing matched surface reports and radar detections across the Sarles corridor.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and radar together indicate localized severe surface impact in and just around Sarles. Two spotter reports at 5:48 PM CDT recorded mostly quarter-to-golf-ball hail and noted a few tennis-ball stones; another public measurement at 7:00 PM CDT matched a 2.5-inch stone size. These observations coincide with radar-detected larger returns across the same timeframe, suggesting the strongest surface impacts occurred during the early evening cells that passed near Sarles.

A 6:50 PM CDT spotter noted very heavy rainfall and a five-minute span of mostly pea-to-quarter hail. That pattern of intense, short-duration hail and heavy rain increases the likelihood of localized shingle scuffing, dented vehicles, and broken skylights where larger stones fell. Multiple radar detections above two inches imply pockets of severe impact rather than a uniformly destructive swath across the entire warning polygon.

Reported impacts were concentrated along the storm track indicated by the radar and the spotter locations. Observers did not report widespread structural collapse or large-scale tree uprooting in the field reports available. Damage reports in this dataset focus on measured stone sizes and short intervals of heavy hail and rain near Sarles during the early evening.