New Raymer, CO Hail Storm – August 2026

A severe hail storm tracked through New Raymer, Colorado on August 16, 2026, producing 2.61-inch stones and widespread small hail during the early evening. The event ran from late afternoon into the early evening with multiple radar-detected hail pulses and spotter-verified surface reports.

What Happened

Dual-polarization radar first detected significant hail returns near New Raymer at 5:42 PM MDT and continued issuing hail detections through 8:20 PM MDT. Radar-detected hail signatures varied across the storm lifecycle, with multiple pulses logged between late afternoon and early evening. Several alert periods were supported by radar hail detections; others were issued as NWS warning-only alerts when radar returns weakened but the warning polygon remained active.

At 7:42 PM MDT a trained spotter in the New Raymer area reported widespread smaller hail with occasional stones about the size of a ping-pong ball while hail was still falling. That spotter-verified observation coincided with one of the more intense radar returns and with additional radar-detected hail alerts in the surrounding minutes. The sequence shows an organized storm that produced repeated hail cores over roughly a three-hour window rather than a single isolated pulse.

Damage Assessment

Field reports from the New Raymer spotter corridor documented ongoing hail at 7:42 PM MDT with frequent small stones and intermittent stones measuring roughly 1.5 inches. No LSRs in the provided reports included direct accounts of structural collapse, vehicle total loss, or large-scale roof failure. Radar-derived hail swaths intersect the spotter location during the 7:30–7:50 PM MDT interval, indicating the surface reports came from within an active radar hail core.

Observed impacts in the immediate New Raymer area were limited to surface coverage by small hail and occasional larger stones reported by trained observers. In the absence of additional local damage reports, the most credible immediate impacts are concentrated cosmetic and surface effects reported by spotters at that time and location. No additional ground-truth reports accompanied the three identical trained-spotter entries for the event.

What Contractors Should Know

Inspect timing: begin inspections focused on the night of August 16 or the morning of August 17 for the New Raymer area. The storm produced repeated hail cores through the early evening. Prioritize properties that lie along the radar-detected swath and the spotter location noted at 7:42 PM MDT.

Inspection focus: look for hail bruising, granule loss on composite shingles, denting on metal roofing and siding, and cracked polycarbonate or skylight panels. Given the mix of frequent small hail and intermittent larger stones reported by a trained spotter, expect localized concentrated damage where larger stones fell and more uniform granule loss elsewhere.