Recorded events
The wind record for Westminster
The honest headline for Westminster is that the hail record is empty for five years. What the record does contain is wind, and enough of it to matter to a roof already past its best.
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- Today, usually within the hour. The first contractor calls or texts the number you gave us. ASAP requests go out first.
- Up to three of them, no more. We cap it at three so you can compare without your phone melting.
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- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
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Hail
Across 61 months of NEXRAD records, no hail-bearing storm cell has been detected within ten miles of Westminster. That is normal for this part of California and it is the reason roof claims here are almost always wind, water or age rather than impact.
Wind
Over 5 years of daily records at this location, the highest modelled gust was about 49 mph, below the 58 mph severe threshold but well into the range that finds anything already lifted or loose. There were 11 days above 39 mph and 4 above 45 mph in that period, concentrated in February, March, and April.
| Date | Peak gust |
|---|---|
| 18 February 2026 | 44 mph |
| 6 November 2024 | 49 mph |
| 3 April 2023 | 40 mph |
| 1 March 2023 | 40 mph |
| 25 February 2023 | 47 mph |
| 12 April 2022 | 40 mph |
| 14 December 2021 | 48 mph |
| 11 October 2021 | 45 mph |
What to look at after a storm
Granules where they should not be
Look in the splash blocks and at the base of the downspouts. Granule loss concentrated in one area, rather than spread evenly, is the pattern that points at impact rather than at age.
Flashing, chimneys and skylights
Penetrations are where a roof is joined rather than laid, and joins fail first. After a wind event they are the first thing worth having looked at properly.
What the street is doing
If several roofs on the street are being worked on and yours is the same age and the same covering, that is a reason to have yours looked at. It is not a reason to assume you have damage, and a contractor who tells you the whole street is getting a new roof paid for by insurance is telling you something about themselves.
The soft metal, first
Start with the parts that bruise easily: gutter faces, downspouts, vent hoods, the aluminium trim. They are the network of soft targets around the roof, and they record a hail event more legibly than the shingles do. Clean metal is meaningful evidence.
Inside, before outside
The underside of the deck is the most honest surface on the whole house. It shows water that has not yet reached a ceiling, and it tells you roughly how long the water has been arriving.
The claim window
Policies require prompt notice of a loss and set an outer limit on how long after the event damage can be reported. That limit runs from the date of the storm, not from the day the damage was noticed — which is why the dates above are worth writing down somewhere you will find them again.
None of which means filing on every storm. It means knowing the date, having the damage looked at, and then deciding — in that order.
What an adjuster looks for, and what to document
About this data
Hail detections come from NOAA NCEI’s Severe Weather Data Inventory (NEXRAD product nx3hail) within 10 miles of Westminster. Radar sizes hail in a storm cell; it does not observe what landed on any particular roof. Gust figures are daily maxima from the ERA5 reanalysis archive at this city’s coordinates, which is a model of the weather rather than a reading from an instrument in the neighbourhood. Both are useful for dates and for scale, and neither is evidence about your roof. Last refreshed 2026-08-31.
Storm damage questions
How long do I have to report storm damage?
Less time than most people assume, and the clock runs from the date of the event rather than from the day you noticed. Policies require prompt notice and set an outer limit on reporting. That is the single most common reason late-discovered damage is denied, and it is why knowing the date of the storm matters.
There was a storm near me. Do I have damage?
There is no way to know from the weather record, and this site does not claim otherwise. Two houses on one street come out of the same night in completely different condition. What a nearby storm gives you is a date and a reason to look — starting with the gutters and vent caps, which dent before shingles mark.
Where do the storm dates on this site come from?
Hail comes from NOAA’s Severe Weather Data Inventory — radar detections of hail-bearing storm cells within ten miles of Westminster, with an estimated stone size. Wind comes from the ERA5 reanalysis archive as a daily maximum gust at this city’s coordinates. Both are useful for dates and scale. Neither is an observation of your roof, and we do not present them as one.
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