Prioritizing Hail Canvassing After 5-Inch Hail in West Texas

## Start with the streets that took the direct strike

After 4.5 to 5.0 inch hail, the first pass should not cover the whole town at once. It should focus on the narrowest part of the hail track, where the radar signature and the spotter reports line up closest to the core. In West Texas, that often means a short list of blocks in and around Dickens, Lakeview, and Clarendon before crews widen out into the surrounding warning area.

NOAA local storm reports and dual-polarization radar are the starting point. The reports tell you where hail was actually observed. The radar tells you where the hail core sat as it crossed town. When both point to the same corridor, that is the first canvass route.

Do not waste the first hours on the outer edges of the warning polygon. Hail size drops fast outside the core. Roofs on the fringe may still be affected, but the highest return usually sits closest to the centerline of the storm track.

## Put Dickens first when the hail core stayed tight

Dickens is the kind of small market where a tight core can create a clear first-pass route. When the storm drops 5.0 inch hail, crews should move to the neighborhoods and roof lines nearest the strongest radar indications first. Start with the blocks that sit under the heaviest reflectivity and the most concentrated hail signatures, then move outward in rings.

On a town of this scale, route order matters more than coverage volume. A crew that works the core first can capture the highest-probability claims before neighboring routes pull attention away. The goal is not to cover every street in one sweep. The goal is to identify the cluster with the clearest loss pattern while the evidence is still fresh.

Crews should also watch for asymmetry in the storm path. A west-to-east moving storm can load one side of town harder than the other. If the reports show heavier hail on the south side of Dickens, do not spend equal time north of town until the south side is covered.

## Use Lakeview as a transition zone, not a starting point

Lakeview often falls into the overlap between the high-end hail core and the broader fringe. That makes it a second-pass target unless radar shows the core crossing directly overhead. If the strongest dual-polarization returns stayed just west or east of Lakeview, the first canvass should stay anchored on the tighter core near Dickens or Clarendon.

Lakeview should move up the list when one of three things is true:

- Spotter reports place large hail directly over the town
- The radar-derived hail path crosses the main residential blocks
- Damage calls from the field cluster along one side of town rather than scattered across the full area

If none of those are true, Lakeview stays on the next ring. Crews can still document it, but the first-door effort belongs closer to the strike point.

## Clarendon needs a wider inspection sweep

Clarendon is different because larger towns usually require a broader first-pass grid. Even when the hail size is in the 4.5 to 5.0 inch range nearby, the working area can spread across more roof types, more building ages, and more travel time between target blocks.

That changes the canvass order. In Clarendon, start with the area that sits closest to the mapped hail core, then extend into adjacent residential pockets and visible roof concentrations. Crews should not assume the entire town took the same level of damage. They should break the town into smaller inspection groups and move one group at a time.

If the NOAA report places the hail core on the edge of Clarendon rather than the center, prioritize the edge first. The storm path matters more than the town boundary.

## Sort by roof type once the core is set

After the first block of doors is assigned, sort the remaining canvass by roof type. In high-end hail, the first roofs to inspect are often the ones that show the easiest surface signal from the street. That usually includes:

- Older shingles with visible granule loss
- Larger roof planes with clear slope lines
- Homes with prior repair history or patchwork sections
- Buildings with exposed ridge and hip lines

Do not start with the hardest roofs to read. Start with the ones most likely to show impact without a ladder on the first look. That keeps the crew moving while the storm signature is still supporting the route.

Metal roofs need a separate pass. They can show dents, seam movement, and accessory damage that are easy to miss from the ground. If a metal cluster sits inside the hail core, mark it for a later inspection block rather than letting it slow the first canvass.

## Let the warning area set the outer limit, not the inner route

The NWS warning area gives you the broad outer boundary. It is useful for deciding where not to send crews. It is not precise enough to decide the first knock on the door.

Inside that polygon, the hail track should decide priority. A town can sit fully inside the warning area and still show very different hail results from one side to the other. Use the warning area to cap your search radius. Use the radar-derived path and local storm reports to decide where the first claims are most likely to sit.

That is the cleanest way to avoid burning time on low-probability streets.

## Watch for edge towns and travel gaps

West Texas routes often involve long gaps between towns. Dickens, Lakeview, and Clarendon may all be in play on the same day, but they should not be treated as equal starting points if the hail core was uneven.

The first crew should go where the hail was deepest and most concentrated. The second crew can cover the transition towns. The third crew can handle the broader fringe and any scattered reports that fall outside the strongest radar signature.

If weather or daylight forces a shorter route, cut the fringe first. Keep the core.

## A simple canvass order that holds up in the field

For a 4.5 to 5.0 inch hail day, the working order is usually:

1. The town or block with the strongest confirmed hail core
2. The adjacent streets inside the mapped hail track
3. The transition town on the same storm path
4. The outer edge of the warning area
5. The scattered reports that sit outside the core

In this case, Dickens should get early attention if the core held there. Lakeview should follow if the path crossed directly into town. Clarendon should be split into smaller target groups and worked from the closest core edge outward.

That order keeps the field team aligned with the storm, not the map boundary.

## What NOAA data should tell your crew before they leave

Before dispatch, crews should review three items from NOAA or nearby verified sources:

- The final hail size estimate
- The path of the storm relative to the town grid
- Any spotter reports that show where the largest hail fell

If the reports show 4.5 inch hail on one side of town and 5.0 inch hail just beyond it, start with the larger report. If the radar path shifts mid-town, split the route at that point. Do not force a single sweep if the data shows two different impact zones.

Crews that use the report line this way usually avoid the common mistake of canvassing the whole warning area at the same depth. The storm does not damage every street the same way. The route should not pretend otherwise.

## Keep the first day focused

The first canvass after large hail is a sorting exercise. It is not a full census. The goal is to find the roofs most likely to produce verified claims while the hail core is still easy to trace.

In Dickens, Lakeview, and Clarendon, that means working from the center of the hail path outward, not from the nearest town sign inward. It means using NOAA reports, radar-derived paths, and field confirmation in that order. It means leaving the outer warning area for later unless the core was broad enough to justify a wider sweep.

When the hail reaches 4.5 to 5.0 inches, the first route should look tight, deliberate, and narrow. That is where the cleanest field intelligence usually sits.