Broomfield Forensic Weather & Hail Impact Report

You know, living here in Broomfield, we’re right in that sweet spot where the Front Range weather really likes to flex its muscles. We sit at the base of the foothills, and that geography is a huge part of the problem. When those spring and early summer storms roll in from the Rockies, they get squeezed and spun up as they cross the higher terrain, which supercharges the updrafts. That’s how we end up with those sudden, violent hailstorms that seem to come out of nowhere—often between April and June, but we’ve seen nasty ones as late as September. The hail isn’t just pea-sized either; we regularly see golf ball and even baseball-sized stones, and when they’re falling at that angle with the wind, they hit your roof like a sledgehammer, bruising the shingles and knocking the granules right off.

And it’s not just the hail—the wind that comes with these systems is a whole other beast. Because of our open, high-plains exposure, we get these straight-line winds that can gust up to 60 or 70 miles an hour without a tornado warning. Those gusts will catch the edge of a shingle that’s already been weakened by a hailstrike and just peel it back like a sardine can lid. The real kicker is that the storms often hit in waves, so you might get a windstorm one week, then a hailstorm the next, and by the time you realize what’s happening, your roof has taken a one-two punch that’s compromised the underlayment and the decking. That’s why I always tell folks here—if you see a storm pass through, don’t just check for missing shingles. Look for that shiny, bruised look on the asphalt, because that’s the damage that’s going to cost you big time if you wait.