Recorded events
The wind record for Orange
No hail has been detected within ten miles of Orange in five years. Wind is the storm hazard that actually shows up in the record here, and it shows up on specific dates.
What is going on with the roof?
Up to three local contractors, and never more.
Your request is in.
We are matching it now against roofing contractors working in Orange and the surrounding area.
- 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.
- They come and look. Estimates are given after somebody has been on the roof, not over the phone.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
If you do not hear anything today, check your voicemail and spam folder — contractors often call from a mobile number.
Hail
Across 61 months of NEXRAD records, no hail-bearing storm cell has been detected within ten miles of Orange. 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 54 mph, below the 58 mph severe threshold but well into the range that finds anything already lifted or loose. There were 14 days above 39 mph and 3 above 45 mph in that period, concentrated in February, March, and November.
| Date | Peak gust |
|---|---|
| 6 November 2024 | 54 mph |
| 14 March 2024 | 43 mph |
| 20 November 2023 | 41 mph |
| 29 October 2023 | 40 mph |
| 20 August 2023 | 41 mph |
| 25 February 2023 | 45 mph |
| 14 December 2021 | 45 mph |
| 24 November 2021 | 40 mph |
The checks worth making
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.
What landed on it
A branch across the roof does damage twice: once on impact and once by sitting there holding water against the covering. Get it off, photograph where it was, and look at what is underneath before deciding it was nothing.
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.
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.
Granules where they should not be
A cupful of granules at the bottom of a downspout after a storm is not proof of impact — roofs shed granules as they age — but a sudden change is worth photographing with the date on it. What matters is the difference from last month, which is why photographing a sound roof now is not a wasted hour.
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.
Reporting is not the same as committing. A claim that turns out to be below the deductible can be withdrawn, and finding out the scale of the damage before filing is generally the right order.
The full guide to how a roof claim works
About this data
Hail detections come from NOAA NCEI’s Severe Weather Data Inventory (NEXRAD product nx3hail) within 10 miles of Orange. 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.
Questions after a storm
Where do the storm dates on this site come from?
They are public federal and reanalysis data for this city’s coordinates rather than anything we measured. Radar sizes hail in a cloud; a reanalysis models wind. They tell you when something happened near here, which is exactly the thing an insurer asks for first and the thing that is hard to reconstruct later.
How long do I have to report storm damage?
Your policy sets the limit and it is measured from the loss, not from the discovery. Reporting is not the same as committing to a claim, so if there is any doubt it is usually better to report and then decide.
There was a storm near me. Do I have damage?
A recorded storm nearby is a reason to have the roof looked at, not evidence that anything happened to it. The useful first check costs nothing: dents in the soft metal around the roof, and a look in the attic on a bright day.
Ready to see numbers?
No cost, no obligation, and never more than three contractors.