Cottonwood Falls, KS Hail Storm – May 2026

A hail storm tracked through Cottonwood Falls, KS on May 31, 2026, producing stones up to 2.56 inches and a prolonged sequence of radar-detected and spotter-verified impacts. The event generated 79 NWS alerts spanning late evening into early morning.

What Happened

The storm sequence began with initial NWS warning-only hail alerts late on May 31 and continued into the pre-dawn hours of June 1 with intermittent radar detections and additional NWS warnings. Dual-polarization radar indicated multiple strong hail cores through Chase County, and several radar sweeps produced 2-inch-plus hail signatures. Two radar + spotter-verified detections occurred late evening and just before midnight, and later radar returns again exceeded 2 inches in the early morning.

Spotter inputs anchored the timing and location of the largest impacts. An emergency manager relayed photos showing tennis-ball-size hail in Gridley at 10:52 PM CDT. Independent mPING reports at 10:50 PM CDT recorded Hen Egg+ stones near the same area. Multiple mPING entries around 10:31 PM CDT reported stones around 1.75 inches, aligning with dual-polarization radar echoes earlier in the sequence. For much of the track, the NWS issued warning-only alerts; where radar detections and spotter reports overlapped, the event was identified as radar-detected and spotter-verified.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and relayed photos document large hail on the ground in Gridley during the late-evening portion of the event. Emergency manager-provided photos at 10:52 PM CDT show clusters of tennis-ball-size stones on paved surfaces. mPING reports timestamped at 10:50 PM CDT recorded Hen Egg+ sized hail in the same corridor. Local storm reports in the record do not include broader structural damage narratives tied to other towns along the track; damage descriptions in official entries consist primarily of size estimates and photographic evidence.

Radar sweep patterns and the timing of spotter reports indicate concentrated surface impact along a narrow track through eastern Chase County between roughly 10:30 PM and 11:00 PM CDT, with additional radar-indicated strong cores reappearing later into the early morning hours. Where spotter photos exist, surface accumulation of large stones is visible in imagery rather than reported structural failures. Contractors and adjusters should prioritize on-scene verification of photographic evidence from the emergency manager and mPING reports before assuming distributed structural loss across the entire NWS warning area.

What Contractors Should Know

Focus initial inspections on Gridley and the immediate corridor east toward Cottonwood Falls. Large stones were documented by an emergency manager and multiple mPING observers between 10:50 PM and 10:52 PM CDT. On properties in that corridor, document hail size with scale references and capture the emergency manager photos and mPING entries as exhibit files. Prioritize vehicles, exposed rooftop features such as skylights and metal flashings, and freestanding equipment that would be directly struck by tennis-ball-size hail. For roofing work, record shingle granule loss patterns and take overhead and ground-level photos tied to GPS coordinates.

Cottonwood Falls, KS Hail Storm – May 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 79

What Happened

Damage Assessment

What Contractors Should Know

Storm Details

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