Catastrophic Hail Damage- Colorado Front Range

[Ray Eklund]

Several weeks ago we had two separate thunderstorms coming out of the Rocky Mountains to our West. They both produced hail. The second was about a week later and contained hail from pea to golf ball size in our County.

We... were lucky. The first storm was mostly pea size to an occasional marble. Wrecking havoc with the trees, stripping leaves off.

We... were unlucky the next week, at midnight, the hail was marble to an occasional 25 cent size hail. The sound of hail hitting the windows, roof and decks was overpowering the senses. I expected windows to be breaking and turned on the out door spot lights to see massive numbers of these white projectiles pummeling the neighborhood. It appeared as a 'fog of rain and hail'.

Considering our roof was ten years old and heavy duty shingles, we thought at first, we did not need to have our house examined by the Insurance Adjusters...

Then neighbors were discovering that not only were roofs damaged, but fences, window frames, windows, any vehicles parked outside that evening and anything exposed.

Today our insurance carrier had one of their 'catastrophic adjusters' climb up onto our roof and it needs to be replaced. Windows and frames need to be replaced. Even wooden fence poles had been pummeled like someone with a hammer went to work on them. ... and we believed our roof to be resilient to hail under these sizes.

Neighbors with automobiles parked outside... dented.

We are fortunate to have had the Airstream and vehicles garaged. But one neighbor had just moved their 30 foot trailer from the area to an outdoor RV Storage. I have not heard about the trailer, yet.

Castle Rock, Colorado (Douglas County) has many RV Storage areas. Anyone with a trailer in one, may want to look their trailer over. Especially the top and rounded ends. I expect to find many hundreds of trailers being damaged by these recent hail storms.

We have never had a claim, ever, anywhere on a home. There is enough damage to purchase a NEW Airstream. Again... with all of the damage to the Front Range with Hail... it looks like we are going to have an other unusual year... for 2017.

Anyone who had a trailer stored outside may want to take a ladder and examine for any dents from these two storms. The Front Range Monsoons were absent for many years and then the last two... the monsoons began to build. This year the storms have brought winds, rain and the centers of these storms... hail. Up to golf ball size in some areas of Castle Rock... knocking out windows of homes and vehicles.

One begins to consider building a metal out building to shield their trailer from these rare, but very destructive events we have no control. Sometimes protection from the Sun may not enough... now HAIL is even a bigger concern.

The heavy snows the last two years, and now severe thunder storms during the Summers... maybe some Boondocking will be a good option for 2017.

[NoResults]

Ray, sorry about all your loss. I have never seen hail like you describe and hope I never will. Give the keys to the contractor and come visit us in hail free Oregon.

Dave

[Lily&Me]

Sorry to hear of all that, Ray, but glad your Airstream is undamaged.

Maggie

[KJRitchie]

Sorry to read your plight but luckily the insurance company came through. Had the same thing happen to our house in Frisco, TX a few years ago. Everyone in the neighborhood got new roofs. We had roofing companies prowling the neighborhood for weeks.

Hope your insurance rates don't increase but more often they do, or like USAA, they decided to up the deductible from 1% to 2% in our area. Had to leave them after 31years due to cost.

Glad to read the Airstream was sheltered. I won't store my Airstream uncovered and won't bring it out if danger of severe weather. I'd rather put up with a leak or two vs hail damage.

Kelvin

[Aerowood]

We got slamed in Arvada in 2009 that required new roof screens, gutters, window surrounds etc. etc. Airstream got hit two years ago and was dented up. As it has no interior I was able to roll most out. Gotta love Colorado.

[centennialman]

Ray, I live just north of you in Centennial. I traded in my 1966 Airstream for a brand new one this year. I immediately, with the help of a neighbor, built a shelter for the new Airstream. I just don't have the heart to leave it out in the elements. We live in "hail alley"

[dbj216]

We saw TV footage of the terrible hail in Castle Rock. It seems like the hail here in Conifer is usually pea sized. It fact, it did a nice job of cleaning the son's Airstream. Kinda like bead blasting. But there were no dents. Maybe at 8300 feet we are closer to the clouds and the hail doesn't have time to spin around in the cold, wet air and get big.

My 86 got pummelled in Minnesota twice, and once again in Murdo, South Dakota. Three times in 5 years. I have dents, mainly in the softer end caps. I've learned to live with it. My "PDR" glue tabs didn't touch them. Aerowood's roller would help, but the interior has to be disassembled.

Hail is the bane of Airstreams.

David

[Candominium]

In late June, we were hit by a heavy hail storm in Estes Park. Luckily it was all pea size but covered the ground. The noise was deafening but no damage at all.

[Aerowood]

About a month ago I had just brought my GT home a we got hit with pea size hail, no damage. I think it was the same storm that took out Castle Rock. We were a the start of the storm in the northwest side of town

[Al and Missy]

Ray,

Sorry about the damage, but glad the Airstream is OK. We ran into a severe thunderstorm in Columbia, SC last month on the way to NC. Some really big stones, but not many of them and they were on the soft side. I still have a couple of new dents in the truck roof. They are minor, no worse than one that was there when I had to have the roof repainted for some rust along the windshield. I opted not to fix that one, so as long as the paint film is intact, these should be OK too.

Al

[Ray Eklund]

We all share a common interest to enjoy our well deserved holidays, vacations and retirement with comfort and manage whatever Mother Nature throws into our paths.

Our current loss is trivial to those who have lost everything from Flood, Tornado, Fire and Earthquake.

Some Forum members have current health issues that prevented many from attending several western Adventures. Our setback is nothing compared to one's health. Each must consider what is and is not possible. Get well, there is always another opportunity.

The current Forest and Brush Fires seem to be all too frequent in the Western USA. Colorado and California have suffered major losses among thousands of individuals, wildlife, property and homes. Ours is trivial to these.

I have not experienced hail of this nature since the early 1970's, when a storm flooded some of the lower sections of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Flowing hail and heavy runoff, down the streets, breaking through basement windows into many homes. Filling the basements with floating clumps of hail and water. ... as soon as the storm left Cheyenne and moved into Nebraska... the sun was out, yet the disaster remained to be cleaned up.

Our insurance will cover the majority of the repairs, although nothing of importance was lost. This experience was a reminder for those who make plans, and at times, must be able to overcome these setbacks and proceed as if nothing happened. That is what we do.

For us, an inconvenience. Others suffered more severe damage in our city. Ours was cosmetic at worst. Fix the worst and then... eventually get to us when the worst damage is repaired.

All I want to do is go... camping in our Airstream. And all of you... do the same.

[field & stream]

Ray -- our sympathy to you for your loss, and our admiration for your great attitude. We want to worry about something we often think of getting caught in such a hailstorm while on the road with no place to take cover.