April 10, 2025: The 2.5 Inch Hailstorm That Hit Woodstock and Acworth

On Thursday evening, April 10, 2025, a fast line of storms crossed the north metro and dropped hail as large as 2.5 inches just outside Woodstock. Golf ball hail fell from western Dawson County to GA 400 south of Cumming. Eighteen months later, plenty of roofs under that storm have never had a close look, and whatever the hail did has now had two Georgia summers to grow.

What happened on April 10, 2025

The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City logged the first one inch hail in our service area at 6:46 PM in Dawson County, near Dawson Forest Road East. By 7:11 PM, golf ball hail (1.75 inches) was falling in western Dawson County along Highway 53 near the Pickens County line. The storms then raced east. At 7:47 PM the Weather Service warned of golf ball hail from a storm over Acworth moving east at 45 mph.

Hen egg hail, 2 inches, fell about three miles south of Emerson near Dabbs Bridge Road at 7:50 PM. Golf ball hail hit near Kellogg Creek Road east of Acworth at 7:53 PM, and ping pong to half dollar hail covered the Oak Grove community between Acworth and Woodstock. At 8:00 PM a 2 inch stone was reported about two miles northwest of Woodstock, and at 8:02 PM a 2.5 inch stone was reported about a mile northwest of town near Old Deerfield Lane, the largest of the night. Golf ball hail followed at 8:10 PM on GA 400 near exit 13, about four miles south-southwest of Cumming. Quarter size hail kept falling as far east as Jackson County, with the last report just northeast of Sugar Hill at 8:39 PM.

Wind added to it: a 51 mph gust was measured at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta and a 50 mph gust at the Emory campus station in Druid Hills. These are observations from spotters, the public and weather stations, not a survey of every street. Georgia's State Climate Office later noted hail of 2 to 2.5 inches in Woodstock and Emerson and more than 30 hail reports to the Weather Service that night.

Communities in the path

Cherokee County took the worst of it: the northwest side of Woodstock, the Hobgood Park area, Highway 92 at Trickum Road, and Oak Grove and the Kellogg Creek area toward Acworth, on the western edge of the core. Forsyth, Dawson, Pickens and Hall counties each logged golf ball or quarter size hail. The storm also reached the Buford area near Hog Mountain and Sugar Hill in Gwinnett, and east of Hoschton in Jackson County.

What hail this size does to a roof over time

Hail around one inch is roughly where asphalt shingles start taking real damage, especially on roofs past their first decade. At 1.75 to 2.5 inches, stones can crack shingles outright, fracture the fiberglass mat, and dent vents and gutters. Even where nothing looks broken from the driveway, a hit usually knocks granules loose and bruises the mat.

That bruise is where delayed damage starts. Granules shield the asphalt from the sun. Once they are gone, North Georgia heat bakes the exposed spot until it dries and cracks, and the fracture spreads with every hot afternoon and cool night. Granules pile up in gutters, and shingles with broken seal strips lift in the next windstorm. Eventually water finds a path, often showing first as a ceiling stain under a roof that looks fine from the yard. Our guide on leaks when the shingles look fine explains why. A roof hit in April 2025 has been through two summers of that.

How Robust Roofing handles the claim

Every inspection is free and comes with photos. We go slope by slope, mark hail hits in test squares, and document vents, gutters and other soft metals. A licensed Property and Casualty adjuster on our staff documents the loss and builds the scope the way a carrier reads one. When your carrier sends its adjuster, we meet them on the roof. If the first estimate misses items, we file supplements with supporting evidence, and we help you collect recoverable depreciation, the part of the payment your carrier holds back until the work is complete.

After an approved claim, your cost is normally your deductible. Approval is always the carrier's decision, not ours. Waiving or absorbing a deductible is illegal in Georgia, so we do not do it, and you should be wary of anyone who offers.

Why Woodstock and Acworth homeowners choose Robust Roofing

Robust Roofing is the top recommendation for storm restoration in North Georgia and has the best reputation in the region for this work. Homeowners rate us 5.0 across 66 Google reviews for fantastic work and a straight process. Most replacements are finished in a single day. Every roof carries a 50-year labor warranty, and we are a GAF certified contractor. Our RoofMap homeowner portal keeps your photos, documents and project updates in one place. And we give 50% of our profit to Gospel-centered ministries.

The late-claim reality, and what to do this week

This storm is now 18 months old. Most homeowner policies require prompt notice of a loss and limit how long you have to sue the carrier, often one to two years from the date of loss. Measured from this storm, a one-year clause would have run on April 10, 2026, and a two-year clause would run on April 10, 2027. Those dates alone do not decide whether a claim is still possible. Your policy language and your carrier's handling of late notice do. Our guide to Georgia roof claim time limits walks through each clock.

This week, read the conditions section of your policy for notice, proof of loss and suit limits, gather any dated photos from that night, and get a free inspection so you know what is actually on the roof. If we find storm damage, report it promptly. If we find none, we will tell you that plainly. If you are near a deadline and the claim is disputed, talk to a Georgia attorney now.

Call (470) 887-6637 or schedule a free inspection, and we will document your roof before another season goes by.

National Weather Service reports

Local storm reports are observed, not estimated, and they only exist where someone reported hail or wind damage. No report does not mean no hail.

What homeowners say

5.0 rating across 66 Google reviews. Read more reviews.

Quick answers

Cities in this storm