Colorado Hail Storm Report, September 19, 2026: Bethune, Flagler and Arapahoe
September 23, 2026
By Red Hawk Roofing
Preliminary report: based on radar-estimated data and early storm reports. We update every report once complete verified NWS data is available, typically within about 10 days.
A hail-producing storm crossed Colorado on September 19, 2026. The National Weather Service has logged 5 hail reports so far in this storm’s footprint for that date, the largest at 3.00 inches. Bethune, Flagler and Arapahoe took the most reports. Report totals typically grow for several days after a storm; this is the picture as of publication.
The Colorado hail map — September 19, 2026
Every hail report in Colorado so far
These are National Weather Service Local Storm Reports — hail an observer found on the ground, not a radar estimate. Times are MDT. “Measured” means the stone was physically measured; “reported” means a size category or description was relayed to the NWS — mPING and public descriptions are not measurements.
| Location | Size | Time | Source | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 SW Bethune | 3.00" | 5:20 PM | Trained Spotter | measured |
| 7 SSW Bethune | 2.00" | 5:54 PM | Trained Spotter | measured |
| 3 E Flagler | 1.75" | 4:35 PM | Public | measured |
| 2 WSW Flagler | 1.25" | 4:16 PM | Broadcast Media | reported |
| 5 SW Arapahoe | 0.75" | 6:35 PM | Public | reported |
By city so far: Bethune 2 reports, Flagler 2 reports, Arapahoe 1 report. A hail report always names the largest stone an observer found, not the average size that fell across every roof.
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Why 3.00-inch hail matters to an asphalt roof
Damage scales hard with stone size. A one-inch stone falls at about 41 mph and lands with roughly 1.3 joules of energy. A 1.75 inch stone falls at about 65 mph and lands with roughly 16 joules — about thirteen times the impact. Denver-area elevation adds another 8 to 10 percent to fall speed.
Published impact studies put the onset of functional damage near 1.00 inch for three-tab asphalt shingles, 1.25 inches for architectural shingles, and 2.00 inches for Class 4 impact-rated products. The largest report in Colorado this day was 3.00 inches, well past the threshold for every common shingle type.
The damage usually is not visible from the ground. Hail bruises the shingle — fracturing the mat beneath a surface that still looks intact — and the bruised area then sheds its protective granules over the following months. A roof hit in June can look fine all summer and start leaking by winter.
Radar-estimated hail is not measured hail
Radar hail algorithms output a deliberate high-end estimate of what may exist inside a storm cloud, not a measurement of what landed on your roof. Radar estimates characteristically run above what observers actually recover. Treat the shaded swath on the map as the search area and the ground reports as the confirmed observations. If a contractor tells you radar showed three-inch hail at your address, ask whether anyone measured it.
For this storm, MRMS radar estimated hail reaching the 2.75 inch contour band, the highest band the contour scale produces — larger hail can sit inside it directly over the reports below. The largest stone anyone actually measured on the ground was 3.00 inches. Radar estimates and ground reports measure different things, so they routinely disagree; both are shown here rather than the more flattering one.
Radar estimate and ground reports by city — September 19, 2026
The map above is the search area. This table asks two narrower questions for each Colorado city in the storm footprint: did any NWS ground report come from inside the city’s actual boundary, whatever locality name the NWS filed it under; and did a radar-estimated hail band of 1.00 inch or larger cross that boundary? A ground report is an observation and always lists the city. The band is an MRMS estimate, not a measurement.
No National Weather Service ground report on this date fell inside a Colorado city boundary. A 1.00 inch or larger radar band clipped the edge of 4 of them by less than one radar grid cell of area, which is inside the positional error of the product and is not listed as a city under a band.
The strongest radar-estimated core of this storm, the 2.75 inch band (the largest of four separate cores at that band), crossed no Colorado city. It sits over unincorporated Kit Carson County, ZIP codes 80815 and 80834, about 2.6 miles west of the Seibert city limit. Named roads under it: I-70, US Highway 24, Frontage Road and County Road 10. The nearest ground report was 1.6 miles away (“3 E Flagler”, 1.75 inches). No ground observer reported from inside it — reports come from where people happen to be, and their absence is not evidence that nothing fell.
City boundaries are the U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2025 place limits; Denver neighborhoods use the City and County of Denver’s statistical neighborhood polygons. A city is listed if any NWS ground report came from inside that boundary, or if a 1.00 inch or larger radar band crosses it; a ground report is never left off for the size of the radar estimate. The 0.50 inch band also crossed 15 other Colorado cities with no ground report inside them; those are not listed because hail under one inch rarely damages asphalt shingles and a radar band that small is an estimate below that threshold. A band at or above 1.00 inch also clipped the edge of 4 further Colorado cities without a ground report inside them, by less than one radar grid cell of area. Those are not listed: MRMS is gridded at about one kilometre and the swath it draws is displaced from where the stones landed, so an overlap that small does not establish that hail fell in the city.
Hail duration, warnings and wind
CoCoRaHS volunteer observers logged 6 Colorado hail observations on this date, the longest running 4 minutes at Fort Garland 2.7 ESE. That network records how long hail fell and what it damaged, which NWS storm reports do not capture.
What to do if you were under it
- Check from the ground, not the roof. Walking a hail-struck roof is how people get hurt.
- Look in your gutters. Granules washing off in quantity is the most common early sign.
- Check soft metal. Roof vents, gutters, flashing, the mailbox, AC condenser fins. Dents in soft metal date the storm.
- Photograph what you find with your phone. Phone photos carry a timestamp. Do not edit them.
- Get it inspected. Especially if this storm was months ago — that is exactly when bruising starts to surface.
Frequently asked questions
Was there hail in Bethune on September 19, 2026?
Yes. The National Weather Service has logged 2 hail reports so far in the Bethune area on September 19, 2026. Across Colorado there are 5 reports so far, topping out at 3.00 inches.
How big was the hail on September 19, 2026 in Colorado?
The largest hail reported in Colorado so far is 3.00 inches. Remember that a hail report names the largest stone found, not what fell across a whole neighborhood.
Which Colorado towns had hail on September 19, 2026?
Reports so far came in from Bethune, Flagler, Arapahoe.
Could my roof still have damage from this storm?
Yes. Hail bruising fractures the shingle mat beneath a surface that still looks intact, and the bruised area sheds granules over the following months. Damage from a storm earlier in the season is often only becoming visible now, which is exactly why it is worth checking.
How do I check my roof for hail damage?
From the ground, never by climbing up. Look for granules collecting in gutters and at downspout outlets, and dents in soft metal such as roof vents, gutters, flashing, the mailbox and AC condenser fins. Soft-metal dents matter most because they date the storm.
How long did hail fall in Colorado on September 19, 2026?
CoCoRaHS volunteer observers — a trained precipitation network separate from NWS storm spotters — logged 6 hail observations in Colorado on September 19, 2026. The longest was 4 minutes at Fort Garland 2.7 ESE. CoCoRaHS reports carry duration and damage notes that an NWS report does not.
Red Hawk tracks every hail day across the Front Range. See our other storm reports for the rest of the 2026 season.
Not sure what to look for? Start with what hail damage looks like on a roof and the Colorado hail claim guide.
Red Hawk works Colorado roofs year round. We'll still be here next season.
Schedule My Free Inspectionor call (720) 771-8921
Storm figures are National Weather Service Local Storm Reports for Colorado on September 19, 2026 (local time), retrieved from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive as of September 23, 2026 and de-duplicated. Radar swath analysis by ExoVzn, an independent forensic meteorology firm, using NOAA MRMS data. Impact-energy and damage-threshold figures are from published hail impact research. Storm reports indicate where hail occurred; only a physical inspection establishes whether a specific roof was damaged.