Burwell, NE Hail Storm – August 2026

A severe hail storm moved through Burwell, NE on August 17, 2026, producing a peak 3.76-inch hailstone and a sequence of radar-detected hail cores that lasted into the predawn hours.

What Happened

The event began in the early evening and generated 38 NWS hail alerts between 7:05 PM CDT and 3:49 AM CDT. Numerous detections came from dual-polarization NEXRAD hail processing, interspersed with NWS-warning-only alerts and several spotter-verified reports. Early radar returns at 7:05 PM CDT flagged large hail potential. Spotters reported sustained quarters-to-golfball hail for 15 to 30 minutes around 7:41 PM CDT in the Burwell metro corridor. Multiple social-media and observer submissions at 9:12 PM CDT recorded 2-inch stones in the surrounding area. A delayed public report shared at 11:35 PM CDT noted several hailstones measured up to tennis-ball size in Cedar Rapids, NE; that report was timestamped by radar correlation.

Through the night, radar continued to show discrete hail cores passing through the NWS warning area that encompassed Burwell and adjacent rural sections. Several of the later alerts were NEXRAD radar detections; others were issued as part of the broader NWS warning area without dual-polarization hail detection. The storm activity tapered after the pre-dawn radar peak at 3:49 AM CDT.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and radar evidence place the most significant surface impacts in and around Cedar Rapids and across parts of the Burwell metro. The delayed social-media submission from Cedar Rapids recorded tennis-ball-size stones, and multiple spotter accounts and local posts documented 1.5- to 2-inch hail in residential and rural neighborhoods. Observers who recorded prolonged quarters-to-golfball hail around 7:41 PM CDT described continuous impacts lasting 15 to 30 minutes along the storm’s track through local farmsteads and county roads.

Local spotter submissions at 8:39–8:40 PM CDT described ping-pong- to golfball-size hail and a separate 1.5-inch report, both of which align with radar-detected cores crossing agricultural parcels and lightly developed residential areas. These localized, high-impact reports coincide with NEXRAD hail detections that repeatedly traversed the same segments of the NWS warning area. Reports do not indicate a uniform damage pattern across the entire warning area; impacts were concentrated where spotters and radar cores overlapped.

Reported impacts to exposed assets are limited to observer statements and social-media submissions at this time. Inspectors arriving on site should prioritize Cedar Rapids and the Burwell metro fringe where observer measurements and radar detections clustered. Photographs and time-stamped observer notes collected by residents will be essential to pair with the radar-derived hail track for claim and repair documentation.

What Contractors Should Know