North Texas Hail Investigation Report Published

RICOWI's Hail Investigation Report of the April 11, 2016 North Texas hailstorm was published today. The purpose of the project was to document the effects of hail impact on a variety of roofing products, and to describe roof assembly performance and modes of damage for substantiated hailstone sizes.

RICOWI's Chairman, Richard Olson stated, "The 2016 North Texas Hail Investigation was the third industry-wide hail research program conducted by RICOWI, Inc. to assess field damage from a major hailstorm in the United States. The storm selected was based on the criteria of having been declared an insurance catastrophe by Property Claim Service (an insurance services company) and having hailstones larger than 1.5 inches in diameter in a region of five square miles or greater in a previously defined area. The North Texas area was targeted due to its concentration of hail damage.

RICOWI sent ten teams into the field to inspect hail damage. Teams were comprised of engineers, roofing material specialists, researchers, and roofing consultants. The teams examined over 175 roofing systems during a four-day period to evaluate the effects of a significant hailstorm. Data collected from the investigations will provide unbiased detailed information on the hail resistance of low-slope and steep-slope roofing systems from credible investigative teams.

The RICOWI Hail Investigation Report of the April 11, 2016 hailstorm is available to download at no cost at www.ricowi.com.

RICOWI is comprised of all of the major roofing associations and includes members of academia, educational and testing facilities and others involved in the science of roofing. RICOWI's website provides details on both the wind and hail investigation programs.