You woke up, looked at the driveway, and saw... something. Maybe it was just a few stray ice pellets melting into the cracks of the sidewalk, or maybe your neighbor’s car looks like it was hit by a bag of ball bearings. Now you're standing there with your coffee, wondering, did it hail last night, or was that just really loud rain hitting the gutters?
It’s a weirdly stressful question.
If you own a home or a car you actually care about, that rattling sound against the window at 2:00 AM wasn't just "nature’s white noise." It was potentially thousands of dollars in property damage screaming at you. Honestly, most people ignore it until they see a roofing solicitor knocking on their door three days later. Don't be that person. You need to know what actually happened before you start filing claims or climbing ladders.
Why You Can’t Always Trust Your Eyes (or Your Ears)
Weather is localized. Like, incredibly localized. It could have hailed on the north side of your street while the south side just got a heavy downpour. This is because of how hail forms inside a thunderstorm’s updraft. Supercooled water droplets freeze onto ice crystals, cycling up and down until they get too heavy for the wind to hold. Then, they drop.
Sometimes they drop in a "hail swath" that's only a few hundred yards wide.
You might hear a roar. Some people describe it as a freight train, but usually, hail sounds more like someone is throwing handfuls of gravel at your house. If you slept through it, you're looking for evidence now. Check your plants first. Large hosta leaves or garden vegetables are the "canaries in the coal mine" for hailstorms. If they look shredded or have circular holes, it definitely hailed.
Digging Into the Data: Did It Hail Last Night Near Me?
Don't just guess.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which tracks "Storm Reports" in near real-time. If you go to their website, you can see a map of the United States dotted with blue icons. Blue means hail. If there’s a blue dot over your zip code from yesterday’s date, you have your answer.
But wait. There’s a catch.
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The SPC only logs "significant" hail, usually one inch or larger (quarter-sized). If you had pea-sized or marble-sized hail, it might not show up on the official federal report. This is where Interactive Radar (NEXRAD) comes in. Meteorologists use something called "Correlation Coefficient" and "Differential Reflectivity" to spot hail. Basically, the radar beams bounce off ice differently than they do off rain.
If you're tech-savvy, apps like RadarScope or Gibson Ridge allow you to look at the "hail core" history. You’re looking for high "reflectivity" (the bright purples and whites on a radar map). If you saw those colors pass over your house around the time you heard the noise, then yeah, it hailed.
The Local Crowdsourcing Hack
If the official maps are being vague, go to social media.
Search "hail" + "[Your City Name]" on X (formerly Twitter) or check your local "Neighborhood" or "Nextdoor" groups. People love taking pictures of hail next to coins for scale. If your neighbor three blocks over posted a photo of a handful of ice at 11:30 PM, you’ve got a confirmed sighting. Just remember that people exaggerate. A "golf ball" in a Facebook post is often just a "marble" in reality.
Understanding the Damage: Sizes and Consequences
It’s not just about if it happened, but how big it was. Size is everything in the world of insurance and repairs.
- Pea Size (1/4 inch): Mostly harmless to your house. It might beat up your petunias or make the dog bark, but it rarely ruins a roof.
- Marble to Grape (1/2 to 3/4 inch): This is the danger zone for older roofs. It can knock granules off asphalt shingles, which accelerates aging.
- Quarter Size (1 inch): This is the "official" threshold for a severe thunderstorm. At this size, it starts denting gutters and thin metal car panels.
- Golf Ball and Up (1.75 inches+): This is destructive. It breaks windows, cracks windshields, and can literally punch holes through siding.
If it was "quarter-sized" or larger, you need to take this seriously.
The Roof Dilemma: What to Look For Right Now
If you’ve confirmed the answer to "did it hail last night" is a resounding yes, do not immediately call a roofer. Not yet.
First, walk around your house. Look at your downspouts. If you see a pile of colored granules (it looks like coarse sand) at the bottom of the spout, your shingles took a beating. The hail knocked the protective coating off.
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Next, look at your "soft metals." These are things like:
- The metal flashing around your chimney.
- The aluminum vents on your roof (you can see these from the ground with binoculars).
- Your window screens.
- Your AC unit's cooling fins.
If those metal vents have dents that look like thumbprints, your roof is almost certainly damaged. Asphalt shingles are flexible, so they don't always show "dents" like metal does, but the impact fractures the fiberglass mat underneath. This is called "bruising." You can't always see it from the ground, but it’s the reason roofs start leaking two years after a storm.
Dealing with Insurance Without Getting Scammed
Here is a hard truth: Hail brings out the "storm chasers."
If you see trucks with out-of-state plates circling your neighborhood today, be careful. These companies track hail swaths using the same radar data I mentioned earlier. They know exactly where it hailed before you even finished your breakfast. Some are legitimate, but many are just looking to sign you to a "contingent contract" that locks you into using them before you’ve even talked to your insurance adjuster.
The correct order of operations:
Verify the hail event -> Document the damage yourself with photos -> Call your insurance agent to see what your deductible is -> Get a reputable, local contractor to provide an estimate.
Check if your policy has a "Cosmetic Damage Exclusion." Some newer policies won't pay for dents in metal roofs or siding if they only look bad but still function. It sucks, but it’s becoming more common. Also, check if you have "Actual Cash Value" (ACV) or "Replacement Cost Value" (RCV). If you have ACV and your roof is 15 years old, the insurance check might only cover a fraction of the cost.
The Subtle Evidence on Your Car
Cars are the best indicators of hail intensity. If your hood is clean but your neighbor's car is peppered with dents, it might be due to the angle of the wind.
Run your hand over the roof of your car. Sometimes you can feel "waves" or tiny dimples that your eyes miss because of the paint's reflection. If you find them, check your windshield seals. Hail often chips the edges of the glass where it meets the frame, which can lead to cracks later when the temperature changes.
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Moving Forward: Actionable Steps
You know it hailed. Now what?
Start a "Storm Log." Write down the date, the approximate time, and how long the hail lasted. Take a photo of the hail next to a ruler or a coin if any is still left on the ground. This documentation is gold when an insurance adjuster tries to claim your damage is "old" or "wear and tear."
If you’re seeing significant denting on your car or home, call your insurance company's claims line. Don't wait. Most policies have a one-year window to file a claim, but "prompt notice" is always better.
Be sure to cover any broken windows or skylights with tarps immediately. You have a legal "duty to mitigate" further damage. If you let rain pour through a hail-broken skylight for three days, the insurance company might deny the water damage portion of your claim because you didn't cover it up.
Check your attic. Seriously. Go up there with a flashlight. You’re looking for wet spots on the rafters. Sometimes hail doesn't create a "hole," but it creates a "stress fracture" that allows water to seep through slowly.
Finally, talk to your neighbors. If everyone on the block is getting a new roof, and your insurance company says you're fine, you might want a second opinion from a public adjuster.
Knowledge is your only real defense here. Once you've confirmed the weather patterns and spotted the physical evidence, you can move from "I wonder if it hailed" to "I am protecting my biggest investment." Keep your receipts for any temporary repairs like plywood or tarps; these are usually reimbursable. Stay proactive, and don't let a "little bit of ice" turn into a massive mold problem or a devalued home down the road.