Recorded events
The wind record for Seal Beach
No hail has been detected within ten miles of Seal Beach in five years. Wind is the storm hazard that actually shows up in the record here, and it shows up on specific dates.
Three questions about your home
About a minute. Nothing is charged and nothing is booked.
Your request is in.
We are matching it now against roofing contractors working in Seal Beach 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.
What the radar recorded
Across 61 months of NEXRAD records, no hail-bearing storm cell has been detected within ten miles of Seal Beach. 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.
Gusts, and when they happen
Over 5 years of daily records at this location, the highest modelled gust was about 55 mph, below the 58 mph severe threshold but well into the range that finds anything already lifted or loose. There were 26 days above 39 mph and 7 above 45 mph in that period, concentrated in January, February, and March.
| Date | Peak gust |
|---|---|
| 18 February 2026 | 51 mph |
| 3 April 2023 | 45 mph |
| 1 March 2023 | 44 mph |
| 25 February 2023 | 55 mph |
| 21 February 2023 | 44 mph |
| 12 April 2022 | 44 mph |
| 14 December 2021 | 49 mph |
| 11 October 2021 | 49 mph |
The checks worth making
The ridge and the edges
Ridge caps sitting proud, a line of shingles along the rake that no longer lies flat, a lifted starter course at the eave: these are wind signatures, and each one is an opening for the next storm rather than a cosmetic complaint.
What the street is doing
Neighbourhoods built at once wear out at once, so a run of work on one street is often a cohort reaching its age rather than a storm. Both are worth knowing about; they are not the same thing.
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.
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.
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.
How the deadline works
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
Where these numbers come from
Hail detections come from NOAA NCEI’s Severe Weather Data Inventory (NEXRAD product nx3hail) within 10 miles of Seal Beach. 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
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.
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 Seal Beach, 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.
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.