Can Wind Damage Shingles? How Much Wind It Takes and What to Check

Yes, wind can damage shingles, and it does not take a hurricane. A strong thunderstorm gust can break the seal that holds a shingle flat, crease it, or tear it off the roof. New architectural shingles are tested to handle winds well above 100 mph, but the National Weather Service has recorded Central Arkansas storms with gusts around 60 mph blowing shingles off homes, because real roofs age, lose their seals and catch the wind at their edges. If you had a windstorm and see shingles in the yard, lifted edges or dark gaps on the roof, have it checked before the next rain.

How much wind does it take to damage shingles?

There is no single number, because the answer depends on the roof as much as the storm. Here is what the published sources show:

• Severe storm: the National Weather Service calls a thunderstorm severe when it produces winds of 58 mph or more (or hail 1 inch or larger).
• Shingles blown off near 60 mph: NWS Little Rock storm reports include a gust estimated near 60 mph at Bauxite Junction that blew shingles off a home (April 25, 2024), and a 52-knot gust (about 60 mph) northwest of Sheridan that broke limbs and blew shingles off (August 16, 2024).
• Widespread damage at 75 to 88 mph: after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) studied shingle roofs where peak gusts were between 75 and 88 mph, well below what new shingles are rated for, and still found roof cover damage on about 65% of the homes it surveyed in one Louisiana town.
• Tested ratings well above that: new shingles are lab tested at 110 mph and higher (more on that below).

Central Arkansas sees winds in that range regularly. NWS Little Rock measured a 79 mph gust at Little Rock Air Force Base on April 5, 2025, and found a microburst with gusts up to 90 mph near Scott on April 8, 2024. So the useful question is not whether a storm was strong enough, but whether your roof was in shape to take it.

What shingle wind ratings mean

Shingle packages and data sheets list two wind tests. They are lab tests on new shingles, not a promise about every roof in every storm.

• ASTM D3161: a fan test. Class F means the shingle passed at 110 mph.
• ASTM D7158: a test that measures how strongly the sealed shingles hold to each other. IBHS lists its classes as D (90 mph), G (120 mph) and H (150 mph).

As an example from the brand Patriot installs most, Atlas lists its Pinnacle Impact shingle as ASTM D3161 Class F, tested at 110 mph, and ASTM D7158 Class H, passed at 150 mph. Atlas lists the same two ratings for its ProLam shingle. The wind warranty is a separate figure with its own conditions: Atlas lists up to 130 mph for ProLam and up to 160 mph for Pinnacle Impact when it is installed as part of an Atlas Signature Select Roofing System, and points homeowners to its limited warranty for the coverage requirements, such as how many nails go in each shingle.

The practical takeaway: a higher rating helps, but the rating describes a new, properly nailed and fully sealed shingle. The things below are why roofs fail at lower speeds.

Why roofs get wind damage below their rating

The seal is the weak point

Nails keep a shingle on the roof; the factory sealant strip keeps its bottom edge flat. Once that bond breaks, wind gets under the edge and the shingle can crease, tear or blow away. IBHS reported in September 2026, after ten years of testing shingles aged outdoors, that unsealing remains the single greatest driver of wind vulnerability, and that most products lost wind performance between years 5 and 10. Our post on lifted shingles covers what an unsealed shingle looks like and how it is fixed.

Age

Seals and shingles weaken as the roof ages. In Arkansas we figure 15 to 20 years for asphalt shingles, and a roof near that range will usually lose more shingles in the same storm than a newer one. The IBHS hurricane study also found older roofs showed more extensive damage on the surfaces, edges and corners facing the wind.

Edges, corners and roof shape

Wind pulls hardest at the edges of a roof. In the IBHS study, damage did not happen most often in the corner zones, but when it did happen there it was more severe, and gable roofs were more likely to be damaged than hip roofs. In practice, check the rakes (the sloped edges of a gable), the eaves, the ridge and the side of the house that faced the storm first.

Nails in the wrong place

Shingles nailed too high or with too few nails can pull loose long before their rating. That is an installation problem, and it often shows up as the same roof losing shingles in storm after storm.

Trees and debris

Plenty of wind damage is not the wind itself but what it throws. Limbs scrape off granules, crack shingles and punch holes in the deck, and a heavy limb resting on the roof keeps grinding with every gust.

Signs of wind damage you can check from the ground

Stay off the roof. You can learn a lot from the yard with your phone camera zoomed in:

• Shingles, tabs or pieces of ridge cap in the yard or the gutters
• Dark rectangles or stripes where a shingle is missing and the underlayment shows
• Shingle edges that look raised, wavy or flap when the wind blows
• Straight horizontal lines across a shingle, a sign it was bent back and creased
• Missing or loose drip edge, ridge cap or flashing, often along the edges
• Limbs on the roof or fresh scrapes on the shingles
• A water stain on a ceiling or wet insulation in the attic after the storm

Also walk around the house: siding panels, gutters, soffit and fascia take the same wind, and damage on one side of the house usually means the roof slope on that side needs a closer look.

What to do after a windstorm

1. Stop water first. If water is coming in, call right away. Our phones are answered live 24/7 and we do emergency tarping. Keep the receipt; you can submit it to your insurance company.
2. Take photos from the ground of anything in the yard and anything you can see on the roof, plus the date of the storm if you know it. If you do not know the date, do not guess.
3. Get an inspection. We do not charge for hail, wind and storm damage inspections, and you get our 21-Point Roof Inspection Report with photos.
4. Talk to your insurance agent if we find storm damage. If the damage is covered, we work with your insurance company and meet the adjuster. Our storm damage repair page explains the process.

A storm is often only part of the story. Shingles that were already unsealed may have been loose for a while, which is why a full inspection looks at the whole roof, not just the obvious spot.

Repair or replace after wind damage?

Most wind damage is a repair. A few blown-off or creased shingles are replaced and sealed in so they blend with the roof. Our published price book starts at $379 to replace up to 5 shingles on a standard-pitch, one-story roof, and the full list is on our roof repair prices page. Our post on whether missing shingles cause leaks explains why even a small gap should not wait.

Replacement starts to make sense when shingles lift all over the roof, the same roof loses shingles in storm after storm, or the roof is near the end of its life. Every Patriot roof replacement includes starter shingles along the eaves and rakes and drip edge around the full perimeter, the edges where wind does its damage. If you are weighing it, our repair or replace guide walks through the decision.

Does insurance cover wind damage to shingles?

Many homeowners policies treat sudden wind damage differently from wear and tear, but whether a policy pays depends on the policy, the age and condition of the roof, and the deductible. Some Arkansas policies carry a separate wind or hail deductible, and some pay older roofs on a schedule. The deductible is always the homeowner's responsibility. Our posts on wind vs hail roof damage and whether insurance covers roof replacement go deeper. This is general information, not insurance advice; coverage and deadlines vary by policy and carrier, so confirm with your agent.

Frequently asked questions

Can a 40 or 50 mph wind damage shingles?

It can on a roof whose shingles are already unsealed, poorly nailed or near the end of their life, because a loose shingle can be bent back and torn by gusts far below its rating. A sound, well-sealed roof normally handles winds in that range without damage.

Does a wind rating on the package mean my roof will survive that wind?

No. The ASTM ratings are lab tests on new, properly installed shingles. Age, broken seals, nailing and how the wind hits your roof all matter, which is why roofs are damaged in storms below their rating.

Will a loose shingle seal back down by itself?

Sometimes, if it only came unsealed and is not creased, once the sun warms it. A creased or torn shingle will not; it needs to be replaced.

How fast should wind damage be fixed?

Before the next rain if a shingle is missing or the underlayment shows, and before the next storm in any case, because loose shingles are the next ones to go. If water is coming in, call right away.

Is a wind damage inspection free?

Yes. Patriot Roofing and Restoration does not charge for hail, wind and storm damage inspections. A repair visit for a leak or other non-storm problem is a $79.99 diagnostic that includes our 21-point inspection, with no fee for Patriot Care Club members.

Had a windstorm come through?

Find out what it did before the next one does more. Contact us to book a free storm inspection anywhere in Central Arkansas, and if it turns out to be a few shingles, we will handle the roof repair too.