The July 4, 2010 Colorado Springs hailstorm is one of the better documented holiday storms in El Paso County: NOAA logged 24 hail reports in El Paso and Teller counties between about 7:10 and 9:40 p.m., with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg) northeast of Black Forest and golf ball hail near Woodland Park and on the east side of Colorado Springs. Most reports were 1 to 1.5 inches, which is large enough to bruise shingles and dent metal on homes in the path.
What happened on July 4, 2010
Several severe thunderstorms worked across the Pikes Peak region that evening. The National Weather Service office in Pueblo described the episode as storms producing hail up to around golf ball size and gusts near 60 mph over El Paso and Teller counties. The Storm Prediction Center’s preliminary log for the day lists the same core of reports, including a 1.75-inch stone “at Powers and Palmer Park.”
The timeline shows how long the evening ran. The first reports, around 7:10 p.m., came from north of Peterson Air Force Base and from Divide. By 7:45 p.m. hail was falling in Black Forest, Falcon and Monument, and around 8 p.m. Woodland Park and the area north of Cripple Creek reported golf ball and half dollar stones. The 2-inch report near Black Forest came at about 8:10 p.m., and the last golf ball report, on the east side of the city, came at 9:36 p.m. That is more than two hours of hail across two counties.
Where the hail fell
| Area | Largest hail on record | Size name |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast of Black Forest | 2.00 in. | Hen egg |
| Woodland Park | 1.75 in. | Golf ball |
| East Colorado Springs (Powers and Palmer Park) | 1.75 in. | Golf ball |
| North of Peterson AFB | 1.50 in. | Ping pong ball |
| Falcon | 1.50 in. | Ping pong ball |
| Divide | 1.50 in. | Ping pong ball |
| North of Cripple Creek | 1.25 in. | Half dollar |
| Monument | 1.00 in. | Quarter |
The pattern matters if you live in Black Forest, Falcon, Monument or the eastern neighborhoods along Powers. Those reports are points where someone measured hail, not the edges of the storm, so homes between two reports may have been hit as well.
What hail this size does to a roof
At 1 to 1.5 inches, hail usually leaves round, dark bruises on asphalt shingles where the granules are knocked loose. On a roof that was already a few years old in 2010, those hits can crack the shingle mat underneath, which lets water in long after the storm. At 1.75 to 2 inches, fractured shingles, split cedar shakes and dented metal vents, ridge caps and gutters become common. Wood shake roofs are especially exposed, because hail splits dry shakes along the grain.
If your roof was replaced after 2010, this storm is history for that roof. If it was not, the hits from this evening may be part of the wear an inspector sees today.
How to check a roof for a storm like this
- Walk the property and look at the soft metal: gutters, downspouts, roof vents, the mailbox and window wraps. Dents there mean hail of roughly an inch or more fell at your address.
- Check the downspout outlets for piles of shingle granules, a sign the surface of the shingles took hits.
- Look at every slope from the ground with binoculars. Wind-driven hail hits the side of the house that faced the storm hardest, and with several storms in one evening, that side can differ from street to street.
- Have the roof inspected up close. Only hands-on photos show whether the bruises broke the mat.
Teller County residents can read our Woodland Park roofing guide, and Black Forest homeowners our Black Forest roofing page.
Claim timing for a Colorado storm
Colorado sets no single deadline to report roof damage; your policy does, often as prompt notice. A Colorado homeowner's policy cannot give you less time to sue than the statute of limitations (C.R.S. 10-4-110.8(12)), and the Division of Insurance advises calling your insurer or agent soon after a hailstorm. Replacement cost policies usually hold back depreciation until the work is done: see finishing repairs to recover depreciation and how long you have to file a hail claim.
This storm is now 16 years old, and hail marks weather. An inspection shows whether marks look fresh or aged, which an adjuster weighs when tying damage to a date. General information, not legal advice; the claim is always yours, and our part is the inspection, dated photos and written scope.
Colorado Springs, CO inspection and hail help
If you live in Colorado Springs and El Paso County, start with our Colorado Springs hail damage repair page, book a free Colorado Springs roof inspection, or read Colorado hail season guide. Integrity Roofing and Painting is veteran-owned and family-run since 1990, an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred contractor with 650+ Google reviews, and we respond the same business day. Call (719) 488-2800.
Other recorded storms in Colorado Springs and El Paso County
- August 5, 2023 Hailstorm: hail to 4 in.
- August 5, 2020 Hailstorm: hail to 2 in.
- August 6, 2018 Hailstorm: hail to 4 in.
- June 13, 2018 Hailstorm: hail to 3 in.
- July 28, 2016 Colorado Springs hailstorm (full write-up)
- June 6, 2012 hailstorm, Colorado Springs and south Denver (full write-up)
- Full storm archive: Colorado Springs, Denver and Austin
Sources: NOAA SPC storm reports, July 4, 2010; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, event 251133 (Black Forest, 2.00 in.); NWS hail size reference; C.R.S. 10-4-110.8 (unofficial reproduction); Colorado Division of Insurance, hail consumer advisory (May 22, 2024).
