Wind and hail damage look nothing alike on a roof — and insurers treat them differently. Here's how to tell them apart.
Wind damage is directional
Wind damage follows the storm. It concentrates on the windward slope and the perimeter, and it shows up as creased, lifted, or missing shingles. Look for a straight line of damage across a slope, broken seals that let tabs flap, and displaced ridge caps.
Hail damage is random
Hail strikes scatter across every slope, including the ones facing away from the wind. A hail hit is a soft, round bruise with granules knocked off and a mat that feels spongy under a thumb. Hail also leaves matching dents on soft metals — gutters, vents, flashing, mailboxes, and grills.
Why the difference matters for your claim
Some policies carry separate wind/hail deductibles, and adjusters scope the two differently. Wind claims often turn on the number of damaged shingles per slope; hail claims turn on hit counts within a test square. Correctly identifying the cause changes what gets approved.
- ▮Wind: creases, lifted tabs, missing shingles, one-sided damage
- ▮Hail: round bruises, granule loss, dented soft metals, all slopes
- ▮Both often appear together after a Gulf Coast storm
We document both types with photos and a marked test square so there's no debate about what caused what.