What a Colorado Springs Hailstorm Does to Asphalt
The ice is only the first hit; the roofing trucks, dumpsters and runoff that follow a big storm can be harder on a driveway.
The storms on record
Hail is part of summer here. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association puts Colorado's hail season from mid-April to mid-September, and KOAA notes that it tends to peak in June and July before winding down in August. The National Weather Service has said the region where Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming meet, often called Hail Alley, averages seven to nine hail days a year. A 2019 study in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology found that reports of severe hail, an inch or larger, have been increasing in eastern Colorado since the 1950s, though its authors caution that reports depend heavily on where people live and travel.
Two storms in 2018 show what that means locally. Early on June 13, the National Weather Service office in Pueblo recorded hail as large as 3 inches over the southern Colorado Springs metro area. On August 6, a storm moved southeast along the Highway 24 corridor and reached Cheyenne Mountain Zoo around 2 p.m.; KOAA reported hail confirmed at 2.75 inches at the zoo, 2.5 inches in Fountain and a 4-inch stone in Security. Fourteen people were hurt, five zoo animals were killed, and about 21,000 auto claims followed, including some 400 badly damaged cars in the zoo's parking lot.
What the ice itself can do
Most of what hail can do to a driveway depends on the surface before the storm. An old, unsealed drive whose binder has oxidized already sheds loose stone, and a heavy fall of hail can knock more of it free. Sealer applied within the previous day, before it has cured, can be pitted or washed off in patches, which is why sealer instructions rule out application when rain is expected within 24 hours. And the water from melting hail soaks into whatever cracks are open.
A short walk after the ice melts is worth the time. Look for loose stone collected at the bottom of the grade or along the garage slab, bare or pitted spots in any recent coat of sealer, and cracks that were not there before. Dated photos help later if a roofing crew damages the same drive, because they show what the surface looked like before the trucks arrived.
The roofing wave that follows
A hail year keeps working on a driveway long after the storm. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department reported more than 17,000 re-roofing permits in 2023, up 179 percent from 2022, after that summer's hail, and each of those jobs brings a truck, a trailer of shingles and often a roll-off dumpster to the driveway for days at a time.
Weight on a small contact point is what marks asphalt. Frontier Waste Solutions notes that a full 20-yard dumpster can weigh more than 10,000 pounds and that prolonged pressure on hot asphalt makes deeper impressions, with damage often showing within the first few days. Summer makes it worse here: the airport's normal July high is 86.5 degrees, it averages about 14.5 days a year at 90 or hotter, and dark pavement in full sun runs hotter than the air. The remedy is simple: plywood at least 3/4 inch thick under the wheels or rails, two sheets where possible, with the container kept off the drive's edges, where the asphalt has the least support.
Put the placement in writing before the roof job starts: where the dumpster goes, what goes under it and who repairs ruts or cracks if they appear. A drive sealed recently, or paved within the last few months, deserves extra care, since fresh asphalt and uncured sealer are softer than an aged surface.
Runoff, debris and the base
Hailstorms are also rainstorms. July and August are the wettest months at the airport, at 3.12 and 2.96 inches, and hail that piles up and melts adds to the water already running off roofs and yards. When gutters and downspouts clog with storm debris, water spills over at the eaves and lands at the edge of the drive, often in the same spot storm after storm.
On the clay loams mapped around El Paso County, which take in water slowly and hold it, that edge water is what drives heave, and the Colorado Geological Survey counts cracked and heaved driveways among the most common signs of expansive soil. After a big storm, clearing gutters and making sure downspouts discharge away from the pavement protects the drive for the rest of the season. Where sections have already sunk or broken, asphalt patching explains the repair.
Sealing around storm season
The weeks that suit sealer are the weeks that bring storms. Sealer instructions call for 50 degrees and rising for at least 24 hours, which the airport's normals deliver reliably only in July and August, when nights at or below 50 drop to about one or two a month. Those same months each average 6.4 days with a tenth of an inch or more of precipitation. The June 13, 2018 storm hit before dawn and the August 6 storm in mid-afternoon, so hail keeps no schedule.
What helps is a morning start on a day with a clean forecast, a crew willing to postpone when storms are predicted within 24 hours, and an agreement on touch-ups if a storm catches a fresh coat. Scheduling the coat for August, after the June and July peak of hail season, also keeps it clear of most roofing traffic. For the rest of the calendar, the overview of Colorado Springs sealcoating lays out the season.
Driveway marked up after a storm or a roof job? Describe it on the quote form.
More from the blog
Quick Answers
Can hail damage a freshly sealed driveway?
It can while the coat is uncured. Sealer instructions rule out application when rain is expected within 24 hours, and SealMaster asks for 24 hours after the final coat before traffic, so a storm in that first day can pit the surface or wash material off in patches. Once cured, a coat is much less vulnerable. If a storm does catch fresh sealer, a touch-up coat on a warm, dry day restores it.
How should a roofing dumpster sit on an asphalt driveway?
On plywood at least 3/4 inch thick, two sheets where possible, under every wheel or rail, and away from the drive's edges. A full 20-yard container can weigh more than 10,000 pounds, and hot summer asphalt takes deeper impressions, so the first few days matter most. Agree in writing where it goes and who fixes any ruts, and photograph the drive before delivery.
Is it worth sealing a driveway during hail season at all?
Yes, because there is little choice. The hail season runs from mid-April to mid-September, and the warm nights sealer needs arrive only inside it, mostly in July and August. The risk from a storm is limited to the first day while the coat cures, so a dry 24-hour forecast and an early start manage it. August, after the June and July hail peak, is a sensible target.
Free Colorado Springs Quote
Free quote