Hail Hit Fort Worth? Here's What to Do — and When.

Yes — Fort Worth has some of the most well-documented hail history in the country. On May 5, 1995, hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter fell across Tarrant and Parker counties, with softball-size stones striking the Fort Worth Mayfest festival along the Trinity River and causing roughly $2 billion in damage — at the time the costliest single thunderstorm in U.S. history. More recently, a hail event on April 8, 2024 damaged an estimated 257 properties in the Fort Worth area, and golf-ball-size hail hit nearby Hurst on April 27, 2024. In 2026, a multi-day severe weather outbreak from April 24–29 produced 226 reports of large hail up to softball size and 37 reports of damaging wind across the NWS Fort Worth county warning area — the most damaging stretch of storms the region had seen since June 8, 2025. Within that outbreak, a single supercell tracked through Jack, Wise, Parker, Tarrant, and Dallas counties on the evening of April 25–26, 2026, producing multiple tornadoes and baseball-size hail reports in Tarrant and Parker counties. Fort Worth sits at the eastern edge of the same North Texas hail corridor that produces these events, and hail season here runs from early spring into early summer most years.

Damage patterns vary across the city, mostly because of tree cover, roof age, and roof type:

• Westover Hills / Tanglewood — heavy, mature tree canopy in these western Fort Worth neighborhoods means hail damage often arrives combined with wind-driven limb strikes on the roof, not hail alone.
• Ryan Place / Fairmount / Mistletoe Heights — these historic near-southside districts have a large share of homes built in the early-to-mid 1900s. Older roofing systems have less remaining service life to absorb an impact, so moderate hail can cause functional damage sooner than it would on a newer roof.
• Alliance / North Fort Worth — one of the fastest-growing parts of the city, with a mix of newer residential subdivisions and low-slope commercial and warehouse roofs, where hail bruising on membrane roofing can be harder to spot from the ground than cracked shingles.

From the ground (safe to check):

• Dented gutters, downspouts, or AC condenser fins
• Dings on window screens, sills, or fence tops
• Dented or cracked vinyl or fiber-cement siding
• Granule loss visible in gutters or splash-down on the ground
• Damaged patio furniture, mailboxes, or vehicles — often a proxy for roof impact

On the roof (only accessible to a professional):

• Round or irregular dark spots where granules have been knocked off shingles
• Bruised shingles — soft spots that feel spongy when pressed
• Cracked or split shingles, or fractured tile
• Exposed fiberglass mat
• Dented ridge cap or dented plumbing/attic vent stacks

1. Photograph your gutters, siding, AC unit, and any visible roof damage from the ground
2. Note the date and time of the storm (pull weather records if needed)
3. Check your attic for any daylight or moisture
4. Do not go on the roof yourself — hail-damaged shingles are fragile and slippery
5. Contact us — we'll help you get a proper inspection before you call insurance
6. Check your insurance policy for the claim filing window (usually 1–2 years, but varies)

It depends on the scope of work. The City of Fort Worth's Development Services Department generally does not require a permit for a shingle-only re-roof that doesn't touch the decking, sheathing, or rafters. If a contractor needs to replace any decking boards as part of the job, a building permit is required, and the work is inspected against the city's adopted International Codes. Permits are handled through the Permit Center at Fort Worth City Hall. A licensed roofer normally pulls any required permit as part of the job, but it's worth confirming with your contractor which category your repair falls into before work starts. We don't pull permits or perform repairs ourselves; we help you understand what to ask a contractor before work starts.

Hail damage doesn't always cause an immediate leak. It weakens shingles so that the next rain or hard freeze causes the actual failure. That gap between the storm and the visible symptom is where Fort Worth homeowners get hurt — insurers may argue the damage is old or pre-existing if you wait too long to document and report it. The right time to document is right after the storm, not after the first stain appears on a ceiling.

• Date-stamped photos of all impact points on shingles or tile
• Granule loss measurement across the roof field
• Ridge cap, flashing, and valley condition
• Gutters, fascia, and soffit damage
• HVAC condenser and any skylight impacts
• Interior attic for moisture or penetration

Most standard homeowner policies cover hail damage as a sudden and accidental loss. The critical factors are: (1) the damage traces to a specific storm event, (2) you report it within your policy's filing window, and (3) the damage meets your policy's threshold. A professional inspection before filing gives you a documented baseline — useful anywhere in Tarrant County, where storm dates and hail size can vary block to block, as the 2026 spring outbreak showed across the region. We help you understand what to photograph and what questions to ask before your adjuster arrives. We do not file claims or negotiate on your behalf — that requires a licensed adjuster.