Hail season on the Front Range is winding down. That is good news and a deadline at the same time.
If a storm rolled through your neighborhood in May, June, or July, the damage it left is still up there. Hail does not repair itself. It sits quietly through a warm, dry autumn and then shows up as a water stain on your ceiling in January, when the roof is under a foot of snow, and nobody wants to be on a ladder.
You have a window right now, roughly September through the first real snow, to find out where you stand. This is the check we at MultiPro Exteriors walk homeowners through every fall, and most of it you can do yourself from the ground in under an hour.
When Does Hail Season End in Colorado?
Colorado’s hail season generally runs from spring through late summer, with the heaviest activity from May into August. By September, the atmospheric setup that drives Front Range hail, meaning daytime heating, monsoon moisture, and storms building off the foothills and marching east, has largely broken down.
So September is the natural inspection month. The threat of new damage is fading, and you still have weeks of decent weather before conditions make roof work harder and more expensive.
One thing worth knowing: hail damage does not have to be dramatic to matter. Golf-ball hail that shreds siding is obvious. Pea-to-dime hail driven by 60 mph wind can strip shingle granules across an entire slope and look like nothing from the driveway.
Why Hail Damage Goes Unnoticed Until Winter
A hail-bruised shingle usually does not leak right away. Here is what actually happens.
Hail knocks the protective granules off the shingle surface and can fracture the asphalt mat underneath. The shingle is still lying flat. It still sheds rain. But its UV protection is gone, and at 5,280 feet and above, our sun is measurably harder on exposed asphalt than it is at sea level. The mat dries out and gets brittle over the following months.
Then winter arrives with the freeze-thaw cycle we specialize in here. Water works into those fractures during a warm afternoon, freezes overnight, and expands. The crack opens a little more. Repeat that fifty times between November and March and a bruise becomes a hole.
By the time you see the stain on your ceiling, the leak has usually been wetting your decking and insulation for weeks. We cover this deterioration pattern in more depth in how Colorado weather damages your roof and windows over time.
The Ground-Level Hail Check You Can Run This Weekend
Stay off the roof. You do not need to be up there, and walking a hail-damaged roof can create damage that was not there before. Everything below is visible from the ground, a ladder at the eave, or inside your house.
1. Look in your gutters and at your downspouts
Granules are the tell. Scoop a handful of gutter debris and look for what resembles coarse black sand. A little granule loss is normal on any roof over ten years old. A significant accumulation, especially concentrated below one slope, points to impact.
While you are there, check the downspouts and gutter faces for dents. Aluminum is soft. If hail was hard enough to dimple your downspouts, it was hard enough to bruise your shingles. Sagging or separated runs are worth noting too, since that is a gutter repair issue that gets much worse once ice loading starts.
2. Check the soft metals
Hail leaves a clear record on anything soft and painted:
- Roof vents and turbines
- Chimney caps and flashing
- Air conditioner condenser fins and housing
- Fence caps, mailboxes, grills, and metal patio furniture
- The garage door and any painted metal siding
Circular dents on these surfaces confirm hail hit your property and give a rough sense of stone size. This is also the easiest evidence to photograph.
3. Inspect your windows, screens, and frames
Windows take hail damage that people rarely connect to the storm. Look for:
- Punctures, tears, or stretched mesh in window screens
- Dents and chipped paint on window frames, sills, and wrapping
- Chips or star cracks in the glass, particularly on west and south exposures
- Damaged or cracked skylight domes
Screen damage is a strong indicator. Screens are more fragile than shingles, so torn screens on one side of the house tell you which slope of the roof took the worst of it. If frames or seals were compromised, you may notice drafts once temperatures drop. Our window replacement team sees a spike in these calls every October, and the storm that caused it was usually four months earlier.
4. Read the shingles from the ground
Stand back at the property line and look at each slope with the sun at a low angle. Early morning or late afternoon works best. You are looking for uneven color, dark patches, or a mottled appearance where granule cover has thinned. Compare slopes to each other. If the west face looks noticeably different from the east face, that difference is the story.
Binoculars help more than you would expect.
5. Go into the attic
Bring a flashlight on a clear, bright day. Turn the light off once you are up there and let your eyes adjust. Pinholes of daylight through the decking mean penetration. Then look for:
- Dark staining or streaking on the underside of the decking
- Damp or compressed insulation
- Rusty nail tips, which indicate condensation or intrusion
- Any musty smell
What Hail Damage Looks Like on Asphalt Shingles
If you do get a professional up there, here is what they are actually looking for, so you can follow the conversation.
Bruising. A dark, soft spot where granules are gone. Press it and it gives slightly, like a bruise on fruit. This is the most common and most missed form of hail damage.
Random impact pattern. Real hail damage is scattered with no discernible pattern. Damage in straight lines or consistent rows is almost always foot traffic, manufacturing defects, or blistering, not hail.
Fractured mat. A crack in the asphalt beneath the granule layer, sometimes with a shiny or exposed appearance.
Granule loss exposing the mat. Bare black asphalt showing through.
Blistering is the classic false positive. Blisters are raised bumps from trapped moisture during manufacturing, and they are not a storm claim. An honest inspector will tell you the difference rather than count them.
When You Do Not Need to Call Anyone
Plenty of fall roof checks come back clean, and we would rather tell you that than sell you something.
You likely have no hail issue if your gutters hold only light debris with minimal granules, your soft metals are undented, your screens are intact, your slopes look uniform in color, and your attic is dry. A ten-year-old roof with even wear and no impact evidence needs monitoring, not replacement.
Cosmetic dents on a metal roof are also worth a pause. They can be unattractive without affecting performance, and many Colorado policies now carry cosmetic damage exclusions specifically for this. Check your policy language before assuming anything.
Why Documentation Before the Snow Matters
Two reasons, and both are practical.
First, snow hides evidence. Once slopes are covered intermittently from November through March, nobody can properly assess granule loss or bruising. A documented September inspection with dated photos, slope-by-slope notes, and measurements preserves the condition of your roof at a moment when it can still be seen.
Second, insurance claims run on deadlines. Most homeowners policies require that damage be reported within a defined period after the loss, and Colorado carriers vary in how they define and enforce that window. A storm from early June is already three months old. That clock does not pause because you have not looked yet. If you find damage, read your own declarations page and call your carrier promptly. We can document what we find and advocate for you through the process, but no contractor can promise how a carrier will rule on a claim.
What a Real Inspection Should Include
A worthwhile hail damage inspection is not a five-minute look from the driveway. Expect the inspector to:
- Walk every accessible slope and mark test squares
- Photograph impacts with a reference for scale
- Check flashing, valleys, vents, and penetrations
- Assess gutters, siding, windows, and screens, not just the roof
- Inspect the attic where accessible
- Hand you a written report with photos, whether or not damage was found
If someone tells you your roof is totaled without producing photographs, get a second opinion. And be cautious with anyone who knocks on your door after a storm offering to cover your deductible. That offer is illegal in Colorado, and a contractor willing to break that law will cut other corners on your house.
Get It Documented Before the First Snow
If your self-check turned up granules in the gutter, dented downspouts, torn screens, or slopes that do not match, the next step is a set of eyes on the actual shingles.
We offer free hail damage inspections across the Denver metro and Front Range, including Aurora, Lakewood, Thornton, Westminster, Littleton, Centennial, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock, Boulder, Broomfield, Golden, and Wheat Ridge. You get a written report with photographs either way. If your roof is fine, we will say so and you can stop thinking about it until spring.
Schedule your free inspection while the roof is still visible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I tell if my roof has hail damage without climbing up?
Check your gutters for granule buildup, look for dents in downspouts and soft metals like vents and AC fins, inspect window screens for tears, and compare roof slopes from the ground at a low sun angle. Then check the attic for daylight, staining, or damp insulation.
When is hail season over in Colorado?
Activity typically drops off after August, with September marking the practical end of the season on the Front Range. That makes September and early October the ideal inspection window.
Does homeowners insurance cover hail damage to windows and screens?
Many policies cover storm damage to windows, frames, and screens under the same claim as the roof, but coverage and deductibles vary. Some policies also carry cosmetic damage exclusions. Read your declarations page and confirm specifics with your carrier.
Can hail damage show up months after a storm?
Yes, and that is the usual pattern. Hail fractures the shingle mat without immediately breaching it. High-altitude UV and winter freeze-thaw cycles then widen those fractures until water gets through, which is why so many leaks surface in midwinter.
Is a hail damage inspection worth it if I do not see anything wrong?
Often, yes. Bruising is difficult to see from the ground and is the most commonly missed form of damage. A free, documented inspection either finds a problem while it is still fixable or gives you a dated record of your roof’s condition.
