What Is MRMS MESH?
MRMS MESH stands for Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor, Maximum Estimated Size of Hail. It is NOAA's high-resolution radar product that estimates the largest hailstone a storm likely produced at each location, updated in near real time. HailScore ingests MRMS within about two hours of a storm.
What is MRMS?
MRMS (Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor) is a NOAA system that merges data from the entire NEXRAD radar network, satellites, surface observations, and lightning sensors into a single seamless, high-resolution national grid. It updates every couple of minutes at roughly 1-kilometer resolution.
What is MESH specifically?
MESH — Maximum Estimated Size of Hail — is one MRMS product. It uses radar reflectivity above the freezing level to estimate the maximum hailstone diameter a storm likely produced at each grid cell. It is an estimate derived from physics and radar, not a ground measurement, which is why HailScore treats it as one signal among several.
Why MRMS MESH matters for fresh storms
Official archived datasets like the NOAA Storm Events Database can lag 60–90 days. MRMS MESH is available within about two hours of a storm. That speed is what lets HailScore reflect a hailstorm the same day it happens — the moment homeowners are most likely to look up their address.
HailScore has ingested 2.3 million+ MRMS MESH records and continues to add them continuously through automated pipelines.
Frequently asked questions
Is MESH a measured hail size or an estimate?
It is a radar-derived estimate of the maximum likely hail size, not a ground measurement. It is highly useful for mapping where large hail probably fell, and HailScore combines it with ground-truth sources like the Storm Events Database and CoCoRaHS.
How fast is MRMS data available?
MRMS updates roughly every two minutes nationally, and HailScore ingests MESH within about two hours of a storm.
Does MRMS cover my area?
MRMS covers the continental United States using the full NEXRAD radar network, so it applies to essentially any US address.
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