Amarillo, Lubbock and the 7-inch stone between them

Amarillo: Potter and Randall counties

NOAA's Storm Events Database logs 142 hail events of an inch or more in Potter County from 2016 through 2025, spread over 51 separate days, and 141 in Randall County over 48 days. Randall also recorded 12 tornadoes in that window (NCEI).

The storms that did the most roof damage are older. On the night of May 28, 2013, a supercell that formed along a dryline in Deaf Smith and Oldham counties crossed into Amarillo, and one of the Potter County hail reports from it, a 2.75-inch stone, carries a $200 million property damage estimate (NCEI event 459305). On June 21, 2004, hail of 4.25 inches struck south Amarillo in Randall County, and the record notes damage to many homes and cars, including roofs, windows and skylights (NCEI event 5410244).

More recent entries show how wide a single swath can run. On June 19, 2020, hail from penny to hen-egg size fell in a continuous band for about 50 minutes as a storm crossed Amarillo from the west side toward the airport (NCEI event 889062). On April 25, 2025, an EF1 tornado in Canyon caused roof and fencing damage to homes near Hunsley Road (NCEI event 1255906).

Lubbock County

Lubbock logs fewer hail events than Amarillo's two counties, 89 of an inch or larger from 2016 through 2025, but 39 of those reached 1.75 inches and the database attaches $187.8 million in hail property damage to the county over the window (NCEI).

• June 23, 2023: a large swath of giant hail crossed much of the city, damaging roofs and vehicles; the largest stone observed was 4.50 inches (NCEI event 1098453).
• May 20, 2020: a storm that grew in Lynn County rotated into south Lubbock; the entry carries a $100 million estimate (NCEI event 885048).
• May 19, 2018: two nearly stationary supercells dropped tennis-ball to just-over-baseball hail on South Lubbock (NCEI event 746394).
• June 5, 2025: one cyclic supercell produced eight known tornadoes across Cochran, Hockley and Lubbock counties (NCEI event 1257256).

Swisher County and the Vigo Park stone

On the evening of June 2, 2024, a supercell dropped a hailstone about 3.9 miles west-northwest of Vigo Park along Farm to Market Road 2301 (NCEI event 1174108). Staff from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety worked from photographs to put its maximum diameter at 7.02 inches (NCEI event 1174108), the largest Texas stone in the database from 2000 through 2025.

Swisher's worst property losses have come from tornadoes. An EF2 tornado cut through industrial and residential parts of Tulia on April 21, 2007 (NCEI event 29941), and FEMA's major disaster declaration DR-1697 for that outbreak includes Swisher County.

City rules that do some of the checking for you

Texas has no state roofing license, but both cities make roofers register.

• Amarillo says all roofing projects require permits, that permit numbers must be visible from the street, and that every contractor must register before working inside city limits. The city's roofing contractor registration requirements state that no state license or registration is required, and ask residential roofers for annual city registration, a $20,000 surety bond and $300,000 in general liability cover.
• Lubbock requires a roofing permit to tear off and replace shingles, and a contractor doing the work must be registered with the city.

Ask your roofer for the permit number before work starts, and look for it on the job.

Association directories for these two cities

Both local chapters of the Roofing Contractors Association of Texas publish searchable lists. Use the Texas Panhandle Roofing Contractors Association directory for Amarillo and Canyon, and the Lubbock Area Roofing Contractors Association search for Lubbock and the surrounding towns. Either chapter's listing tells you a company belongs to the chapter; it says nothing about insurance currency or permits, which the city records above cover. The guide to Texas roofing associations explains the statewide directory and RCAT's separate license program.

Roofers in Amarillo and Lubbock

The National Roofing Directory lists roofers by city for roofers in Amarillo and roofers in Lubbock.

Before a storm season, the storm damage roof repair guide walks through the claim side of a hail loss.

Frequently asked questions

Do Amarillo roofers need a license?

Not from the state. The City of Amarillo's registration requirements say no state license or registration is required, but residential roofers must register with the city every year and carry a surety bond and general liability insurance.

Is the Vigo Park hailstone the biggest ever recorded in Texas?

In NOAA's Storm Events Database, it is the largest Texas hailstone logged from 2000 through 2025, at 7.02 inches (NCEI event 1174108). Staff from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety took the measurement from photographs.

How can I tell if a Lubbock roofer belongs to a roofing association?

Search the Lubbock Area Roofing Contractors Association list, the statewide RCAT directory and NRCA's member directory. A company that claims membership should appear in at least one of them.