April 2022 DFW Hail: What We Saw Across the Metro

The mid-April system was the worst we've seen in DFW since 2019. NWS confirmed hail anywhere from golf ball-size (1.75 inches) all the way up to baseball-size (2.75 inches) across parts of Collin and Denton counties.

The 380 corridor got hammered. Prosper, Celina, most of McKinney, the west side of Frisco. Allen and east Plano saw golf ball or bigger too.

What baseball-size hail does

Baseball-size hail is rare. When it shows up, the damage isn't subtle.

At 2.75 inches, standard Class 1 or 2 asphalt shingles fracture through the mat. That's not granule loss. That's the structural layer of the shingle coming apart. The roof isn't cosmetically damaged. It's functionally broken.

Class 3 shingles may fracture at baseball size depending on age and how they were installed. Class 4 impact-resistant shingles are only rated to 2 inches, so even the best asphalt product you can buy was in the damage zone for the biggest stones that dropped.

Gutters got clobbered. In the worst pockets we're seeing sections collapsed along the bottom channel — not dented, actually caved in.

The insurance timeline when the storm is this big

When a storm hits a huge footprint all at once, carriers slow down. Adjusters are regional. They're getting assigned dozens of claims apiece.

So your adjuster appointment might be three or four weeks out. And in that window, if you've got any kind of penetration — a split shingle, exposed decking, a torn pipe boot — the next rain is going to push water into the house. Now you've got interior damage stacked on top of the original claim.

Two things to do right now:

Document before the adjuster shows up. Don't sit on it. Get ground-level photos of everything you can see. Get a roofer up there to photograph what you can't. Do it before the appointment, not during.

Tarp if you have to. If you see water stains on ceilings, cracked pipe boots, or damaged valleys, get a tarp on it. Temporary emergency repairs are almost always reimbursable under your policy.

Be picky about who you hire

Storms this big pull in chasers from all over the country. They'll be running multiple counties at once. Inspections are rushed, paperwork is thin, and good luck getting them on the phone three months in when there's a supplement issue.

Ask for proof of insurance — liability and workers' comp — before anything else. Ask for a real DFW address — not a UPS box, not a "temporary office." Ask who's going to be at your property when the adjuster is there.

A storm like this deserves careful handling. Not a handshake with somebody whose truck is already pointed at the next county.