Best Storm & Weather History Tools
A plain-language comparison of the leading tools for researching historical hail, wind, and severe weather at U.S. addresses.
What this comparison covers
A plain-language comparison of the leading ways to research historical hail and wind at U.S. addresses — StormAuditor, HailTrace, HailStrike, and the public sources themselves (NWS, NCEI Storm Events, SPC reports) — on data sources, address-level capability, coverage, methodology transparency, and pricing. The full interactive comparison table loads on this page.
The short honest version
The public sources are free and authoritative but not organized around one address — assembling a property-level picture from them takes real work. Commercial tools organize that work; they differ in which data they use, whether their methods are published, and what they charge. StormAuditor's position: public-data-only inputs, a published, station-verified methodology, a genuinely free snapshot tier, a $2.99 one-time report, and per-date Explainer Reports that publish the full evidence and arithmetic behind any single estimate — a level of address-level transparency that is rare among the tools on this list — with limitations documented rather than glossed over. Where a competitor fits your workflow better, use it; this page lays out the differences so you can decide.
Free live tools, no account
Two StormAuditor tools in this landscape are simply free for everyone: Live Radar & Storm Replay animates the national NEXRAD composite with live NWS warning polygons, nearest-station conditions, GOES satellite views, and the SPC severe outlook — and replays any storm day back to 2012 in 5-minute frames — and the 7-Day Forecast serves the official NWS point forecast for any U.S. location with hourly detail and active alerts. No account, no card.
Feature comparison — free storm report tools (2026)
| Feature | StormAuditor | HailTrace | Interactive Hail Maps | NWS resources | NCEI | SPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free for property owners | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| At-address hail sizing (not just area map) | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | No | No |
| At-address peak wind gust analysis | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | No | No |
| Instant YES/NO threshold indicator | Yes | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Free NOAA dossier by address | Yes | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| NOAA MRMS MESH radar hail | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | No | No |
| NOAA URMA + HRRR wind analysis | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | No | No |
| SPC storm reports integrated | Yes | Partial | Unverified | Unverified | No | Yes |
| NWS warnings + LSRs by address | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | Partial | No | No |
| NCEI Storm Events lookup | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | Yes | No |
| PDF report export | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | No | No | No |
| Statewide Hail & Wind Explorer maps | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | No | No |
| Aimed at homeowners (per provider positioning) | Yes | No | No | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Mobile apps or mobile-optimized site | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Unverified | Unverified |
| All 50 U.S. states searchable | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Published methodology | Yes | Unverified | Unverified | Yes | Yes | Yes |
About this comparison: StormAuditor publishes this guide, and the ranking reflects our editorial opinion. Statements about other services are based on each provider’s public product pages as of August 2026 and may not reflect private or newer features — "Unverified" means their public materials neither confirm nor deny it. No affiliation or endorsement is implied. Corrections are welcome via our contact page. Corrections: contact us.