Stratton, NE Hailstorm — 3-Inch Hail Pounds Southwest Nebraska Again, July 2–3, 2026

Severe storms fired across southwest Nebraska on the evening of July 2, 2026 and rolled through into the early hours of July 3. The National Weather Service in Goodland logged the biggest hail in and around Stratton in Hitchcock County — trained spotters measured and photographed stones up to 3 inches (tea cup) across, with baseball-size hail (2.75"), hen-egg hail (2.00"), and golf balls mixed in. Three-inch hail is bigger than a baseball, well into the range that totals roofs rather than just damaging them.

The same line of storms spread damage across the region. A 74 mph wind gust was measured at Wauneta in Chase County, and North Platte picked up half-dollar hail (1.25") — including right at the National Weather Service office — with quarter-size hail at Max and Farnam. Hail that big cracks and punctures shingles, caves in skylights and vents, dents gutters and AC units, and shatters vinyl siding in a single pass.

For Stratton and Wauneta, this is becoming a pattern. The same corridor was raked by tennis-ball hail (2.50") and a brief tornado near Stratton on June 20–21, and Wauneta took 3.2-inch hail on June 21 — one of the biggest stones reported in Nebraska all year. That's three rounds of large, roof-damaging hail in barely two weeks. Damage from stones this size often isn't visible from the ground — bruised shingle mats and broken granule surfaces can look fine from the street while quietly shortening a roof's life — so every roof under this storm is worth a close, professional look.