How Much Hail Actually Hits San Antonio? 5 Years of Verified Storm Data
Not an estimate — the actual NOAA and local storm report record for San Antonio and the surrounding counties, and what it means for how long a roof here really lasts.
- Average hail size across our Central Texas service counties rose from 0.86" in 2022 to 1.11" in 2025.
- 2025 recorded hail up to 3 inches in the region — larger than the 2-inch threshold Class 4 shingles are rated to survive.
- Bexar County has logged 136 verified hail events since 2021, more than any neighboring county in our service area.
- Homes we've run a 5-year storm history on (a partial sample so far) averaged roughly 19 hail events and 31 total severe-weather events within 5 miles.
- Source: NOAA's Storm Events Database (verified, official) plus local storm reports (preliminary) — not modeled or estimated data.
- This is why shingle-life answers for Central Texas run lower than generic national figures quoted elsewhere.
Table of contents
What five years of storm data actually shows
We pulled every verified hail, wind, and tornado event recorded for our service counties going back to 2021, cross-referencing NOAA's official Storm Events Database against preliminary local storm reports. Averaging hail size by year across those counties:
- 2022: average 0.86", largest recorded 2.00"
- 2023: average 1.01", largest recorded 2.00"
- 2024: average 1.06", largest recorded 2.50"
- 2025: average 1.11", largest recorded 3.00"
2021 and 2026 are excluded from that list because both are partial years in the record — the earliest event in our data is from May 2021, and 2026 data runs only through midyear. Four full comparable years is still a real trend, not a cherry-picked pair of data points: average hail size in the region has meaningfully increased, and the largest stones recorded have too.
Which counties get hit hardest
Verified hail events since 2021, by county, across our service area:
- Bexar: 136 hail events, average 1.03", largest 2.5"
- Comal: 26 hail events, average 1.00", largest 1.75"
- Travis: 12 hail events, average 0.62", largest 1.00"
- Guadalupe: 9 hail events, average 0.97", largest 1.5"
- Bandera: 7 hail events, average 1.29", largest 2.00"
Bexar County — San Antonio and the surrounding metro — has both the highest event count and a materially higher average size than Travis County to the north. If you're comparing "how bad is hail here" against Austin, the record says San Antonio sees it worse and more often, not just anecdotally.
What this looks like at the property level
Storm counts for a whole county are useful for context, but a homeowner cares about their own address. For properties in our system where we've run a full 5-year, 5-mile radius storm history, the average has been roughly 19 hail events and 31 total severe-weather events — hail, wind, and tornado combined — in five years.
That number is based on a partial sample so far — roughly 1 in 7 of the properties we track have a completed lookup — and will get more precise as we run it on more addresses. We're publishing it now because even a partial, honest sample beats a made-up national average, and we'll update this page as the sample grows.
What this means for your roof
Shingle manufacturers rate lifespan against a generic national climate. Central Texas isn't generic. A roof here absorbs more hail impacts, at larger average size, than a roof in most of the country covered by the same warranty terms. That's the mechanism behind the gap between "shingles are rated for 25–30 years" and what actually happens to a roof in Bexar County over that time — covered in more depth in how hail actually damages a shingle and how long roofs really last in Texas.
It's also the practical case for Class 4 impact-resistant shingles in this specific region — not as an upsell, but because the region's own storm record includes hail at or above the size those shingles are rated to survive. Cost and insurance-discount detail on that upgrade is in our IMPACTSHIELD™ system page.
The physics and building science behind this
Most "hail-prone region" claims in this industry are marketing, not measurement. We wanted a number we could actually stand behind, so this page is built from the same verified federal storm database insurance adjusters and meteorologists use — not a summary of someone else's blog post, and not rounded up for effect. Where the sample is thin, like the property-level average, we said so instead of presenting it as more solid than it is.
That distinction matters more than the number itself. A homeowner can independently pull NOAA's Storm Events Database for their own ZIP code and check every figure on this page against it.
Central Texas climate changes the answer
Central Texas sits inside a corridor where warm Gulf moisture and cold fronts collide repeatedly through spring and early summer, which is what produces the supercells capable of dropping hail this size this often. Bexar County's position in that corridor — combined with its urban density — is a large part of why San Antonio shows up disproportionately in the statewide hail-claim data, not just in our own service-area numbers.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a roof is fine because there are no visible dents from the driveway — most functional hail damage is not visible from the ground.
- Comparing Central Texas shingle life to national marketing figures that assume milder climates and less hail exposure.
- Treating regional storm frequency as proof that a specific roof was damaged — frequency raises exposure odds, but each roof still needs its own inspection.
- Waiting for a leak before acting — hail damage often destroys the shingle mat long before water shows up inside.
- Assuming hail risk is uniform across the region — Bexar County's exposure is meaningfully higher than Travis County's, so 'Central Texas gets hail' understates how much more exposed San Antonio homes are than Austin homes.
Warning signs to watch for
- Circular spots of displaced granules on asphalt shingles, especially on slopes facing the storm.
- Soft or bruised spots underfoot on the shingle surface — a sign the fiberglass mat beneath has fractured.
- Dents or dings on soft metal collateral: gutters, downspouts, vents, AC fins, or window screens.
- Granule piles at downspout exits after a storm, even if the roof looks normal from below.
- Neighbors with visible damage or roof work underway after the same storm — a strong signal your roof was exposed too.
- Splatter or impact marks on wood fences, painted trim, or patio furniture after the same storm — confirms hail reached the ground with enough force to matter, even if the roof looks fine from below.
Cost considerations
A professional hail inspection with photo documentation typically runs $0–$300 when bundled with a full roof assessment. If damage is found and an insurance claim is appropriate, the adjuster inspection is covered by your policy. The most expensive mistake is not inspecting at all — undiscovered hail damage can turn a repairable roof into a full replacement with interior damage years later.
For homeowners considering prevention, upgrading to Class 4 impact-resistant shingles adds roughly 10–20% to the material portion of a replacement. In many Texas markets, wind/hail premium discounts recover that delta within 6–10 years — details are in our IMPACTSHIELD™ system page.
Repair vs replacement guidance
Isolated functional hail hits on a roof that is otherwise young and well-ventilated can often be addressed through an insurance claim and spot replacement of the affected slopes. That's a repair scenario, not a whole-roof failure.
Widespread hail hits across multiple slopes, combined with a roof that is already past its expected Central Texas lifespan, usually points toward full replacement. The same storm exposure on a 20-year-old architectural shingle roof is a very different equation than on an 8-year-old one. The decision framework is covered in repair vs replacement.
Frequently asked questions
Still have questions?
Talk with Atrium Roofing's engineering-led team before making a roofing decision. We give straight answers, walk your roof in person when needed, and never pressure you into a scope you don't need.