Tenaha Forensic Weather & Hail Impact Report

Look, I’ve been replacing roofs up here in East Texas for over twenty years, and if there’s one thing I can tell you about Tenaha, it’s that we’re sitting right in the bullseye for some of the nastiest weather in the state. You see, we’re tucked right at the edge of that big, flat prairie land that rolls down from the Red River, and when those spring storms start marching in from the west, there’s nothing to break them up. The heat off those pine forests and the open fields just feeds the thunderheads, and by the time they hit us, they’re spinning and dropping hail the size of golf balls like it’s nothing. It’s not just the size of the stones, either—it’s the wind that comes with them. We get those straight-line gusts that’ll peel shingles right off a brand new roof, and if you’ve got any age on your decking, that’s when you start seeing real trouble.

And it’s not just a one-and-done thing, either. Our severe season runs a long, long time—starting in early March and stretching all the way through June, and then we get a second round in the fall when those cold fronts start clashing with the leftover summer heat. I’ve seen storms roll through here that looked like they were going to fizzle out, and then all of a sudden the sky turns that ugly green color and the wind shifts. That’s the one that gets you. The hail comes down at an angle, driven by those gusts, and it’ll beat the living daylights out of your ridge caps and valleys. Plus, with all the tall pines and oak trees we’ve got around here, a strong wind can send a limb crashing through your roof before you even hear the thunder. Honestly, if you’ve been here more than a couple of years, you’ve probably already got some hidden damage you don’t even know about yet.