Ira Forensic Weather & Hail Impact Report

Look, I’ve been replacing roofs out here for over twenty years, and I can tell you Ira doesn’t get lucky when it comes to weather. We sit right in that sweet spot where the dry west Texas plains slam into the wetter air coming up from the Gulf, and that collision is like throwing a match on gasoline. Every spring, usually starting in late March and running right through June, those supercell thunderstorms build up fast and mean. They’ll drop hail the size of golf balls—sometimes bigger—and the wind isn’t just a gust, it’s a sustained, howling freight train that can peel shingles right off the deck. The flat, open terrain around here gives that wind absolutely nothing to break it up, so it just barrels across the fields and hits your roof with the full force of a hundred miles of open country behind it.

And it’s not just the big spring storms you have to worry about. We get those sneaky fall systems in October and November, too, where the temperature swings can create sudden, violent downbursts that catch everyone off guard. The real kicker is the heat, though. That Texas sun bakes your asphalt shingles all summer long, making them brittle and stiff. So when that first hard hailstone hits in the spring, it’s not bouncing off—it’s cracking and shattering like a piece of old ceramic. I’ve seen roofs that looked fine from the street, but up close, they’re riddled with tiny fractures that let water sneak in for months before you ever notice a stain on the ceiling. It’s a one-two punch: the sun weakens it, and the storm finishes it off. That’s just the way it is out here, and it’s why I always tell folks to get a good look at their roof before the season really gets going.