Hail warnings arrive with very little lead time. Whatever you are going to do has to be decided in advance.
Before the season
Identify covered parking now. A garage, a covered deck, a parking structure near work. Knowing exactly where you are heading turns a decision into a drive.
Check your coverage. Hail is comprehensive. Liability-only pays nothing. Confirm you carry it and know the deductible.
Enable severe weather alerts on your phone. Minutes matter.
What actually works
- Structured cover. A garage or parking deck. Nothing else comes close.
- A purpose-made hail blanket, if you have time to fit it and somewhere to
store it. These work, but they take minutes to deploy and are useless in the boot when the storm arrives.
- Moving the vehicle, if you have genuine warning and somewhere to go.
What mostly does not
- Blankets and floor mats. Better than nothing on the roof, but they slide,
they blow away, and they cover a fraction of the surface.
- Cardboard. Goes soft the moment it rains, which is immediately.
- Parking under a tree. Trades hail damage for branch damage, and branches
break paint.
- Standard car covers. Fabric covers are made for dust and sun. They do not
absorb impact energy.
During the storm
Stay inside. Hail large enough to damage a car is large enough to injure you, and several people were treated in hospital after the April 2026 Springfield, Missouri event. A car is replaceable.
If you are driving, pull off somewhere safe, stay in the vehicle, and angle the front of the car toward the hail if you can. Windshields are laminated and designed to take impact. Side and rear glass is not.
Afterwards
Photograph before you move the car, open your claim promptly, and get the damage read under lighting rather than in a driveway. Schedule an in-person estimate.