Mission, SD Hail Storm – July 2026

A severe hailstorm tracked through Mission, SD on July 30, 2026, producing up to 3.63-inch stones and multiple radar-detected hail cores across the metro. The event ran from early afternoon into late evening and generated 31 NWS alerts covering the Mission warning area.

What Happened

The storm complex first produced a radar-detected hail core at 2:05 PM CDT and remained active until 9:23 PM CDT. NWS issued 31 alerts for the Mission warning area during that span. Thirteen alerts cited dual-polarization radar hail detection. Eighteen alerts were NWS warning only designations without a corresponding dual-polarization hail detection callout.

Dual-polarization radar returns showed repeated hail cores moving northeast through the Mission metro between mid-afternoon and early evening. Radar-detected hail sizes reported in alerts ranged from near 0.75 inch to mid-2-inch estimates before the maximum hail measurement was recorded. A spotter at 6:40 PM CDT reported hail "quarters to ping pong" in size and estimated 1.5 inches in a populated corridor inside the Mission warning area. The spotter report aligns with a cluster of radar-detected cores between 5:30 PM and 6:45 PM CDT over central Mission.

Late-afternoon and early-evening alerts alternated between radar-detected large hail signatures and NWS warning-only updates as the storm cycled and redeveloped. Multiple radar cores passed over the same sections of the warning area rather than a single straight-line path. The repetition is visible in NEXRAD dual-polarization hail detections issued for the region and in successive NWS warning areas that overlapped parts of the Mission metro.

Damage Assessment

Ground-truth for surface impact is limited to the spotter-verified hail observation at 6:40 PM CDT reporting 1.5-inch stones described as "quarters to ping pong." Local storm reports did not include additional storm-specific damage entries for Mission within the supplied data set. Radar-detected hail cores did traverse residential and commercial portions of the Mission warning area multiple times. Those radar returns coincide with the time and location of the spotter observation.

No other NWS Local Storm Reports were provided for structural collapse, vehicle totals, or widespread tree damage for Mission in the event record supplied. Where the spotter observation occurred, nearby rooftops and parked vehicles are the most likely surfaces to show impacts from stones of the reported sizes. Field verification and targeted canvassing of the spotter location and the overlapping radar cores are required to establish any localized damage claims.

What Contractors Should Know

Inspect priority zones that fall inside the July 30 NWS warning area for Mission. Start with the spotter-verified location logged at 6:40 PM CDT and expand inspections along the sequence of overlapping radar cores. Focus on residential roofs, vehicle panels, and south- and west-facing exposures where hail accumulation and impact angles tend to concentrate.