Note Window and Skylight Damage After Fort Bliss Hail

After hail near Fort Bliss, write chips, fogged panes, and torn screens on the same list as the roof so those openings are not left off. The notes record what you see, and they do not decide coverage.

By Marshall Smith, IAUA Certified Property Appraiser and Umpire (CPAU) · Published November 3, 2026 · 8 min read · Filed under Storm Damage

After the NOAA Storm Prediction Center reported hail up to 1.75 inches near Fort Bliss on October 23, 2026, write down chips, fogged panes, and torn screens with the roof notes. Do that so those openings are not left off the amount-of-loss list.

An amount-of-loss list is the written set of items whose repair or replacement cost is in question. It is not a promise of payment. It is not a coverage decision. Both the policyholder and the carrier can read it when they discuss the amount.

The 1.75-inch reading, and what it leaves for you to write

The NOAA Storm Prediction Center recorded one report of hail up to 1.75 inches near Fort Bliss, in El Paso County, on 2026-10-23.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center

A storm report records hail at a reported place and time. It is not a photo of your openings. It does not measure a chip, a fogged pane, or a torn screen on your building. Use it as a reason to look. Then write what you see.

If an opening is unmarked, write that you looked and write the date. A line that says you checked and found no chip, no fog, and an intact screen shows that wall was not skipped.

Keep the reported size as 1.75 inches. Do not round it up. Do not treat that figure as proof your glass was struck. It is the reading. Your lines are the record of your building.

Save the report with the list. Keep two dates, and do not mix them. The report date is 2026-10-23. The inspection date is the day you walked. If those days differ, say so at the top of the list.

Openings the roof walk does not face

People often start on the roof. Shingles, metal panels, vents, and gutters are the usual first look after hail. That look faces the roof. It does not face the windows.

Windows sit in the walls. Screens sit in front of the glass, or on the ground below. A skylight sits in the roof, but the mark you can confirm without climbing is usually the one you see from the room. Write those openings while the roof notes are still in your hand.

A chip is a small break in the glass surface, often a pit or a short nick. A crack that runs toward the frame is a different mark. A star crack has lines running out from a point. Write the word that fits. If you see a pit and lines, write both.

Fog looks cloudy or milky between the layers. Dirt on the surface can look the same until you wipe it. If you can reach the glass safely, wipe a small spot. If the haze stays, write that it did not wipe off. If it comes off, write "surface film," and do not call it fog. You are recording the look, not a cause.

Write a torn screen as a tear, a hole, mesh loose from the frame, or a screen on the ground. Say which. The glass behind it may still look whole. Write the screen anyway. If you skip the screen because the glass looks fine, the screen is not on the list.

Window screen hail notes stay short. Write the tear or the hole, the wall, and the date you looked.

Treat a skylight as an opening, not as a shingle. From inside, look at the dome or the glass, the frame, and any screen or shade. Write chips, cracks, haze, and a torn or missing screen. If you see a stain on the inside curb, write the stain and write that you do not know its age. Do not climb the roof to finish that line.

Door glass belongs on the same list. A sidelight or a panel in a door can show the same chips or fog. If you have a house and a garage, walk both. Put the building name on the line so the two are not mixed.

Taken together, that is the opening side of Fort Bliss hail damage notes. Write the mark, the wall, and the date. Nothing more than what you could see.

Line by line: wall, room, and the mark

Use one line per opening. Include the building, the story, the room if you know it, and the wall it faces. North, south, east, and west are the clearest labels. If you are unsure, write "street side" or "back yard side," and add the compass point after you confirm it. Do not guess.

If several windows share a wall, number them left to right as you face the wall, and say that is how you numbered them. A line that says "east wall, second from the left" can be found again.

A clear line sounds like this: "East wall, second floor, hall. Fog between the panes. I do not know when it started." Use that shape only when it matches what you see. Do not copy a mark that is not there.

Write unknowns as unknowns. "I do not know if this chip was here before the hail report" is a fair sentence. If someone remembers older fog, write that as their memory, not as your measurement.

Number each line, and put that number on the photo. Date the page with the day you walked, and put your name on it. If you add a line later, date that line by itself.

Scale in the photo, taken without a climb

Here's what to expect from the photos. Take them the same day you write the lines. One wide photo shows where the opening sits. One close photo shows the chip, the fog, the crack, or the tear.

Hold a coin, a pen, or a short ruler next to the mark if you can do that from the ground or from inside. If you cannot reach it, do not climb. Write "no scale object," and say where you stood. A coin against the glass from inside is enough for a second-story pane. A skylight photo from the floor below is enough for this list.

Do not stand on a roof, a ladder, or a windowsill for a closer shot. If the mark is too small to see, say that on the line. The written line still counts. Leave a torn screen as you found it. Do not stretch the mesh. If the screen is on the ground, photograph it there, then photograph the opening above it.

Name the file with the line number, the wall, and the date. Save the photos, the list, and the storm report in one folder so they stay together.

Roof items and openings on one list

Put the chips, the fogged panes, and the torn screens on the same list as the roof items. Not a second notebook. Not a message that never gets attached. The same list.

Opening lines are short, so they are easy to overlook on a page that never gets copied. One list keeps them with the roof items that do get reviewed.

Write the place in plain words. Do not invent a claim number. Write 2026-10-23 as the report date, and write the day you walked as a separate line. Keep the roof lines. Under "Openings," add each window, skylight, door-glass panel, and screen. Add a line for walls you checked and found unmarked.

Save the storm report with the list. It gives the date and the reported size. It is not a finding that your property was hit. One list is easier for both the policyholder and the carrier to read. A missing opening does not help either side.

Condition notes stop short of coverage

These notes record what is there. They do not decide coverage.

Appraisal determines the amount of loss only. Whether a loss is covered at all is a separate determination under the policy, made by the carrier and, where the parties disagree, resolved by a court — never by the appraisers or the umpire.

A chip line, a fog line, and a screen line each record a condition. None of them decides whether the policy applies. Read your policy. For a legal question about those words, ask a licensed attorney.

If your policy contains an appraisal clause, that clause is the language that allows a dispute about the amount to go to appraisal. Each side selects its own independent appraiser. The two appraisers try to agree on the amount. A neutral umpire decides the items they cannot agree on. An umpire is that neutral person. Check your own policy for how the umpire is chosen.

Each appraiser prepares a position, which is that appraiser's written statement of the amount of loss. The written result is an award. An award sets the amount of loss for the items decided in it. It does not decide coverage. An ESX file is the electronic estimate many people use to list items. Clear notes help a window or a screen stay on that list as its own line.

When the disagreement is about the amount of a hail loss, and the policy provides for appraisal, the hail damage insurance appraisal page explains that process. It settles the amount of loss only.

Property owners near Fort Bliss, in El Paso County, can read how insurance appraisal in Texas works when a policy contains an appraisal clause. Other cities and states are listed on where we work.

Marshall Services is independent. It can serve as the appointed party appraiser or as the neutral umpire, and in both roles the work rests on the evidence.

If you want to talk through whether the roof lines and the opening lines sit on one clear list, call Marshall Services at 972-322-0752 and ask for a free consultation. Bring the list, the photos, and the storm report. We can talk through whether the notes are clear. Outcomes depend on the facts and the policy. Thank you.