Guide · 2026
Hail damage to a roof
What size hail damages a roof?
About 1 inch (a quarter) for 3-tab asphalt shingles, 1.25 inches (a half dollar) for laminated architectural shingles, and 1.75 inches (a golf ball) for concrete tile, on Haag Engineering's field observations. Repeated smaller hail also weakens shingles over time.
Hail size and roof damage
| Roofing | Damage starts at | About the size of |
|---|---|---|
| 3-tab asphalt shingles | 1.00 in | a quarter |
| 30-year laminated shingles | 1.25 in | a half dollar |
| Cedar shingles | 1.25 in | a half dollar |
| Medium cedar shakes, fiber-cement tiles | 1.50 in | a walnut or ping pong ball |
| Concrete tiles | 1.75 in | a golf ball |
Thresholds are Haag Engineering's field observations; size comparisons are the National Weather Service's hail size guide. Haag's lab tests found aged shingles were damaged at 1 to 1.5 inches depending on type, and an IBHS study found shingles weathered and hit by repeated hail under 1 inch were about ten times more susceptible to damage from later severe hail.
Signs of hail damage
- Dark spots or dents where granules have been knocked off, often in a random pattern.
- Granules collecting in gutters and at downspout outlets after a storm.
- Cracked or split shingles, or dented metal vents, flashing and gutters.
- On the ground: dented cars, siding or mailboxes on the same side of the house.
A dent in a vent cap is a useful clue but not proof of shingle damage. Stay off the roof and have it inspected (roof inspection cost), and read the claim guide.
Where hail hits most
NOAA's Storm Events database, county hail reports 2021 to 2025, summed over each metro's counties:
| # | Metro | Hail reports 2021–25 | Largest (in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 1,268 | 5.9 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City, OK | 792 | 4 |
| 3 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 542 | 3.5 |
| 4 | Rapid City, SD | 503 | 4.5 |
| 5 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 480 | 3.5 |
| 6 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 394 | 3.75 |
| 7 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 366 | 4 |
| 8 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 361 | 6.42 |
| 9 | Tulsa, OK | 345 | 3.5 |
| 10 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 324 | 5 |
| 11 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 320 | 4.8 |
| 12 | Colorado Springs, CO | 320 | 4 |
Largest stone covers January 2021 to June 2026. Every metro page on this site shows its own count and rank.
Filing a hail claim
The Texas Department of Insurance's home insurance guide lists these steps. Deadlines and rules vary by state, so check your policy and your state insurance department.
- Tell your company as soon as possible. Most companies have deadlines for you to file a claim. Some policies have a one-year deadline unless you can show good cause for the delay.
- Make a list of your damaged property. If possible, take pictures or videos of the damage before making any repairs.
- Make only temporary repairs to protect your house and belongings. For instance, board up broken windows or put a tarp over a damaged roof. Don’t make permanent repairs. The insurance company might deny your claim if you make permanent repairs before it sees the damage.
- Keep receipts. To get full payment, you may need to prove to the insurance company that you replaced destroyed items. Receipts will help you do this. Also keep receipts for any materials you bought to make repairs.
- Try to be there when the insurance company’s adjuster looks at your damage. It’s a good idea to have your contractor with you. Your contractor can talk to the adjuster about estimates and other issues.
How much the policy pays depends on its terms. Replacement cost value pays to repair or replace without deducting depreciation; actual cash value pays the depreciated cost (NAIC). When you apply for a policy, most insurers require roofs over 20 years old to pass an inspection, and some cover them at actual cash value only (Insurance Information Institute). Compare a settlement with the market price: a typical architectural shingle replacement on a 2,000 sq ft home is $17,967 at US-average labor, and your state or metro page gives the local figure.
Sources for the figures on this page
Hail size and damage thresholds
- NOAA Storm Prediction Center FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-28:
A severe thunderstorm refers to a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado.
- NWS Binghamton, Severe Weather Definitions, retrieved 2026-09-28:
A thunderstorm that produces a tornado, winds of at least 58 mph (50 knots or ~93 km/h), and/or hail at least 1" in diameter .
- NWS Binghamton, Severe Weather Definitions, retrieved 2026-09-28:
Guide for determining hail sizes: less than 0.50" Pea 0.50" - Marble/Mothball 0.75" - Dime/Penny 0.88" - Nickel 1.00" - Quarter 1.25" - Half Dollar 1.50" - Walnut/Ping Pong 1.75" - Golf Ball 2.00" - Hen Egg 2.50" - Tennis Ball 2.75" - Baseball
- Marshall, Herzog, Morrison, Smith (Haag Engineering Co.), 'Hail Damage Threshold Sizes for Common Roofing Materials', AMS conference paper P3.2, retrieved 2026-09-28:
3-tab asphalt shingles 1.00 25 30 yr. Laminated shingles 1.25 32 Cedar shingles 1.25 32 Medium cedar shakes 1.50 38 Fiber-cement tiles 1.50 38 Concrete tiles 1.75 44 [...] Table 3. Threshold sizes for hail-caused damage to roofing - field observations (after Morrison, 1997).
- Haag Engineering Co., AMS paper P3.2, retrieved 2026-09-28:
Aged organic mat-based asphalt shingles were damaged half of the time by one-inch diameter ice stones, whereas it took 1.25-inch diameter ice stones to damage the aged glass-fiber mat based asphalt shingles. Thicker, aged laminated shingles were damaged by 1.5-inch ice stones.
- Haag Engineering Co., AMS paper P3.2, retrieved 2026-09-28:
Basically, hailstones one inch in diameter begin causing damage to some of the older, thinner roof products.
- Insurance Journal, 'IBHS Study Shows Smaller Hail May Be More Damaging to Roofs Than Once Believed' (Oct 2, 2025) (page dated 2025-10-02), retrieved 2026-09-28:
“Our findings show that asphalt shingles exposed to both natural weathering and sub-severe impacts were approximately ten times more susceptible to future damage from subsequent severe hail events,” the authors wrote.
Claim steps
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Tell your company as soon as possible. Most companies have deadlines for you to file a claim. Some policies have a one-year deadline unless you can show good cause for the delay.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Make a list of your damaged property. If possible, take pictures or videos of the damage before making any repairs.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Make only temporary repairs to protect your house and belongings. For instance, board up broken windows or put a tarp over a damaged roof. Don’t make permanent repairs. The insurance company might deny your claim if you make permanent repairs before it sees the damage.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Keep receipts. To get full payment, you may need to prove to the insurance company that you replaced destroyed items. Receipts will help you do this. Also keep receipts for any materials you bought to make repairs.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Try to be there when the insurance company’s adjuster looks at your damage. It’s a good idea to have your contractor with you. Your contractor can talk to the adjuster about estimates and other issues.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Tell you that it got your claim within 15 days. [...] Send an adjuster to look at your damage. [...] Accept or deny your claim within 15 business days of getting all the information it needs from you. [...] Send you a check within five business days after it agrees to pay your claim.
Replacement cost vs actual cash value, roof age
- NAIC, 'Rebuilding After a Storm: Know the Difference Between Replacement Cost and Actual Cash Value When It Comes to Your Roof' (page dated 2025-03-26 (last modified; first published 2021-07-22)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
If you have Replacement Cost Value (RCV)coverage, your policy will pay the cost to repair or replace your damaged property without deducting for depreciation.
- NAIC (page dated 2025-03-26 (last modified)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
If you have Actual Cash Value (ACV)coverage, your policy will pay the depreciated cost to repair or replace your damaged property.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Actual cash value coverage pays replacement cost minus depreciation. Depreciation is a decrease in value because of wear and age.
- NAIC (page dated 2025-03-26 (last modified)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Smith Family$15,000-n/a-$1,000= $14,000 [...] Johnson Family$15,000-$10,000-$1,000= $4,000
- Texas Department of Insurance, 'Home policies: Replacement cost or actual cash value?' (page dated 2024-01-24), retrieved 2026-09-28:
If it costs $10,000 to replace the roof, the amount an actual cash value policy will pay depends on how old the roof is: 5-year-old roof 10-year-old roof 20-year-old roof Actual cash value of roof $8,500 $7,000 $4,000 Minus deductible - $4,000 - $4,000 - $4,000 Policy would pay $4,500 $3,000 $0
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
If you have a replacement cost policy, most companies pay with two checks. You’ll get the first check after the adjuster has looked at your damage. This check will be for the estimated cost of repairs, minus depreciation and your deductible.
- Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), 'How Your Roof Influences Your Home and Business Insurance', retrieved 2026-09-28:
If your roof is over 20 years old when you apply for home or business insurance, most insurance companies will require it to pass an inspection. Other insurers may decline to write new policies for homes or businesses with older roofs. And if they do accept your application, they may specify that it’s only covered at its actual cash value (ACV) — meaning depreciation is factored into your final payout, rather than Replacement Cost Value (RCV).
- NAIC (page dated 2025-03-26 (last modified)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Some policies have special deductibles that apply to certain parts of your home, like your roof.Check with your insurer to learn this information.
What policies cover
- Insurance Information Institute, 'What is covered by standard homeowners insurance?', retrieved 2026-09-28:
A standard policy will not pay for damage caused by a flood, earthquake or routine wear and tear.
- Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide (page dated 2026-06-01), retrieved 2026-09-28:
This table shows common risks that most policies do and don’t cover. [...] Most policies don’t cover damages from: [...] Wear and tear [...] Windstorm, hurricane, and hail (but not if you live on the Gulf Coast)
- ISO Homeowners 3 Special Form HO 00 03 10 00 (sample hosted by III; Copyright Insurance Services Office, 1999) (page dated 1999 form edition (sample form; actual policies vary)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
We insure against risk of direct physical loss to property described in Coverages A and B. [...] (a) Wear and tear, marring, deteriora-tion;
- NAIC (page dated 2025-03-26 (last modified)), retrieved 2026-09-28:
Homeowners insurance policies may cover damage from windstorms and hail.However,some policies exclude this coverage.This is common in coastal areas.
Hail reports by metro
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (bulk CSV), retrieved 2026-09-28:
County-level hail events (EVENT_TYPE Hail, CZ_TYPE C), 2021 to 2026-06-30, summed over each metro's counties per the OMB July 2023 delineation.
This page is general information, not insurance or legal advice; your policy and state law govern a claim. Written by the Thomas Town Digital editorial team. We match homeowners with roofers; we do not roof.
Hail damage questions
What size hail damages a roof?
Haag Engineering's field observations put the damage threshold at 1.00 inch for 3-tab asphalt shingles, 1.25 inches for 30-year laminated shingles and cedar shingles, 1.50 inches for medium cedar shakes and fiber-cement tiles, and 1.75 inches for concrete tiles.
What counts as severe hail?
The National Weather Service calls a thunderstorm severe when it produces hail at least 1 inch in diameter (about the size of a quarter), wind gusts of 58 mph or more, or a tornado.
Can small hail damage a roof?
Over time, yes. An IBHS study found that asphalt shingles exposed to natural weathering and repeated sub-severe hail were about ten times more susceptible to damage from later severe hail.
Does homeowners insurance cover hail damage to a roof?
Many policies do, but not all: the NAIC notes some policies exclude wind and hail, which is common in coastal areas. Policies do not pay for routine wear and tear, and some have a separate roof deductible.
How much will insurance pay for a hail-damaged roof?
It depends on the policy. Replacement cost value pays to repair or replace without deducting depreciation; actual cash value pays the depreciated cost. In the NAIC's example, $15,000 of damage with a $1,000 deductible pays $14,000 under replacement cost and $4,000 under actual cash value after $10,000 of depreciation.