Recorded events
Hail and wind recorded near Irvine
Hail is not common here, which is exactly why the days it has happened are worth writing down. Within ten miles of Irvine, on two days: 18 March 2024 and 5 October 2021.
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Hail
The most recent detection was on 18 March 2024, about 2 years ago. Radar sized the largest stone in that cell at about 0.5 inches, small, and unlikely on its own to have marked a sound roof. The nearest cell was about 4.2 miles away, which is close enough to be worth checking and far enough that it may have missed the house entirely.
| Date | Largest stone sized by radar | Nearest cell | Cells that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 March 2024 | 0.5 in | 4.2 mi | 4 |
| 5 October 2021 | 1.0 in | 4 mi | 4 |
Wind
Over 5 years of daily records at this location, the highest modelled gust was about 55 mph, below the 58 mph severe threshold but well into the range that finds anything already lifted or loose. There were 30 days above 39 mph and 14 above 45 mph in that period, concentrated in January, February, and November.
| Date | Peak gust |
|---|---|
| 6 November 2024 | 50 mph |
| 14 March 2024 | 54 mph |
| 29 October 2023 | 53 mph |
| 20 August 2023 | 46 mph |
| 25 February 2023 | 55 mph |
| 1 January 2023 | 52 mph |
| 14 December 2021 | 47 mph |
| 11 October 2021 | 51 mph |
What to check afterwards
Inside, before outside
Go into the attic on a bright day with the lights off. Daylight through the deck, fresh staining on the sheathing, or a rust track down a nail shank all say water got in. The attic shows it long before a ceiling does, and dated photographs of it are worth a great deal later.
The soft metal, first
Start with the parts that bruise easily: gutter faces, downspouts, vent hoods, the aluminium trim. They are the network of soft targets around the roof, and they record a hail event more legibly than the shingles do. Clean metal is meaningful evidence.
What the street is doing
If several roofs on the street are being worked on and yours is the same age and the same covering, that is a reason to have yours looked at. It is not a reason to assume you have damage, and a contractor who tells you the whole street is getting a new roof paid for by insurance is telling you something about themselves.
Granules where they should not be
A cupful of granules at the bottom of a downspout after a storm is not proof of impact — roofs shed granules as they age — but a sudden change is worth photographing with the date on it. What matters is the difference from last month, which is why photographing a sound roof now is not a wasted hour.
The ridge and the edges
Ridge caps sitting proud, a line of shingles along the rake that no longer lies flat, a lifted starter course at the eave: these are wind signatures, and each one is an opening for the next storm rather than a cosmetic complaint.
The claim window
Every policy sets a period within which a loss has to be reported, measured from the event rather than from the discovery. That is the practical reason a dated record of local storms is useful to a homeowner at all.
Reporting is not the same as committing. A claim that turns out to be below the deductible can be withdrawn, and finding out the scale of the damage before filing is generally the right order.
How a roof insurance claim actually works, step by step
Sources, and what they can and cannot tell you
Hail detections come from NOAA NCEI’s Severe Weather Data Inventory (NEXRAD product nx3hail) within 10 miles of Irvine. Radar sizes hail in a storm cell; it does not observe what landed on any particular roof. Gust figures are daily maxima from the ERA5 reanalysis archive at this city’s coordinates, which is a model of the weather rather than a reading from an instrument in the neighbourhood. Both are useful for dates and for scale, and neither is evidence about your roof. Last refreshed 2026-08-31.
Commonly asked
Where do the storm dates on this site come from?
They are public federal and reanalysis data for this city’s coordinates rather than anything we measured. Radar sizes hail in a cloud; a reanalysis models wind. They tell you when something happened near here, which is exactly the thing an insurer asks for first and the thing that is hard to reconstruct later.
How long do I have to report storm damage?
Your policy sets the limit and it is measured from the loss, not from the discovery. Reporting is not the same as committing to a claim, so if there is any doubt it is usually better to report and then decide.
There was a storm near me. Do I have damage?
A recorded storm nearby is a reason to have the roof looked at, not evidence that anything happened to it. The useful first check costs nothing: dents in the soft metal around the roof, and a look in the attic on a bright day.
What is it going to cost?
No cost, no obligation, and never more than three contractors.