San Carlos, AZ Hail Storm – October 2026

What Happened

A severe hail storm tracked through San Carlos, AZ on October 22, 2026, producing a peak radar-detected stone of 3.03 inches and a long-lived, pulsing hail corridor. The event began before daybreak and produced repeated radar detections and NWS warning areas through the afternoon and early evening.

The National Weather Service issued 66 alerts for the metro during the event, a mix of NWS warning-only notices and radar-detected hail indications from dual-polarization NEXRAD hail detection. The first significant radar hail detection occurred before sunrise, followed by intermittent returns through mid-morning. The storm intensified in the early afternoon, with a cluster of larger radar detections between roughly 1 PM and 4:30 PM local time. During that mid-afternoon period, NEXRAD hail detection showed multiple pulses of strong reflectivity and hail signatures that moved across developed portions of the San Carlos metro.

Spotter reports were consistent with the radar feed. At 1:45 PM MST, the NWS Flagstaff account posted photos and measurements showing stones ranging up to golf-ball size, and two separate spotter submissions at the same time reported ping-pong-ball-sized hail near populated corridors east of central San Carlos. A trained spotter reported quarter-sized hail near 3:08 PM MST on the lower slopes of Mount Graham. Social media photos from a storm chaser south of Hurley around 4:36 PM MST documented large stones. Several later NWS posts and public photo submissions recorded coin-sized hail and multiple quarter-inch up to half-dollar sized stones across the metro.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and radar signatures indicate concentrated surface impact along the mid-afternoon hail swath east and southeast of downtown San Carlos. Photo-verified reports posted to the NWS Flagstaff feed at 1:45 PM MST and 4:36 PM MST show significant surface scouring on vehicles and landscaping in neighborhoods east of central San Carlos and just south of Hurley. A public-submitted photograph measured at 4:50 PM MST recorded half-dollar-sized hail in a residential yard. Trained spotters on Mount Graham reported quarter-sized hail that produced visible accumulation on exposed surfaces along the mountain roadways.

Local accounts to the NWS describe denting to vehicle panels in the Hurley vicinity and shattered skylight glazing on a commercial building near a major arterial noted in a 4:36 PM MST social-media report from a storm chaser. Damage reports were clustered; properties immediately adjacent to the radar hail swath and within the NWS warning areas reported the highest incidence of broken glass, dented metal, and concentrated lawn/planting damage. Public submissions included timestamped photos that the NWS used to update several alert posts during the afternoon run of the storm.

What Contractors Should Know

Inspect roofs, glazing, and vehicle-facing exposures in the east and southeast sectors of San Carlos first. Start with photographic verification points tied to the 1:45 PM MST and 4:36 PM MST spotter posts and the public photo received at 4:50 PM MST. Expect concentrated hail impacts along streets and neighborhoods just south of Hurley and on lower-elevation approaches to Mount Graham where trained spotters and public images recorded accumulation.

San Carlos, AZ Hail Storm – October 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 66

What Happened

Damage Assessment

What Contractors Should Know

Storm Details

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