Maryland gets hail. Not as much as Texas or Colorado, but enough — particularly during late-spring and early-summer storm fronts moving across the Bay. And unlike wind damage (which usually tears off shingles you can see from the street), hail damage often hides in plain sight until granule loss, mat damage, and accelerated aging show up two or three years later as leaks.
If a hailstorm passed within the last 12 months, walk your house and look for these seven signs.
1. Dents on metal surfaces
Hail leaves clear, round dents on soft metal — your gutters, downspouts, AC condenser fins, metal roof flashing, vent caps, and aluminum siding. If any of those show fresh dents that weren't there before, the same storm hit your shingles too. Photograph everything you find.
2. Granule loss on shingles
Asphalt shingles are coated with mineral granules that protect the underlying mat from UV damage. Hail strikes knock these granules loose. You'll see them collecting at the base of downspouts, on splash blocks, and in your gutters. A handful of new granules in the gutter after a storm is normal weathering. A significant accumulation — enough to fill a coffee cup — is hail damage.
3. Bruises and craters on shingles
This is the most diagnostic sign — and the one homeowners can't reliably see from the ground. Hail bruises look like dark circular marks on the shingle surface, with the granules either gone or compressed into the mat. They're soft to the touch (you can feel the mat give slightly), unlike normal wear which is flat and hard.
This is what a contractor is looking for during a hail inspection. If they're not on the roof checking, they're not doing a real inspection.
4. Cracks radiating from impact points
Larger hailstones can crack the shingle mat in a radial pattern from the impact point. These cracks are bad — they're entry points for water and they spread over time. Cracked shingles are also a clear basis for a full claim, not just a repair.
5. Damage to skylights, vent caps, and turbines
Plastic skylight domes crack from significant hail. Vent caps split or detach. Turbine vents stop spinning because their bearings have been hit. Walk the roof line from a distance and check whether anything that should be intact looks wrong.
6. New leaks 6-18 months after a storm
This is the cruel one. Hail can compromise the shingle mat without obvious immediate leaks. The damaged shingles continue to degrade under UV and freeze-thaw cycles, and water starts coming in months later — by which time linking the leak to the storm in an insurance claim is significantly harder.
This is why post-storm inspections matter even if your roof looks fine. Documentation now beats documentation later.
7. Damage to neighbors' homes
Hail patterns are localized but not narrow. If your immediate neighbors have visible hail damage, replaced roofs after a recent storm, or active insurance claims in process — your home likely took similar impacts. Walk around the block. Talk to neighbors.
What to do if you suspect hail damage
- Don't climb on the roof yourself. Damaged shingles are slippery.
- Photograph everything from the ground. Date-stamp, multiple angles.
- Don't call insurance yet. Get a free inspection first.
- Schedule a free inspection with a licensed local roofer. We do this for free across Calvert County.
- If damage is confirmed, file the claim with photos and an estimate ready. See our full insurance claim guide.
When hail damage is too old to claim
Most Maryland policies require notification within 30 days to a year of the event, depending on the carrier. Once you can no longer reasonably attribute the damage to a specific storm — usually 12-24 months out — it becomes "wear and tear" and is no longer covered.
That's why inspecting now, after a recent storm, is the right move. Documented damage is claimable. Two-year-old hidden damage is not.