Building stronger roofs: RICOWI’s latest field investigation

By Emma Peterson.  

RICOWI’s 2025 Texas A&M University hail study reveals vital insights into modern roof performance after severe storms.   

Back in 1990, the Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues, Inc. (RICOWI) was formed as a non-profit with the partnership of the Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as some sponsor members from the roofing industry. RICOWI’s initial goal was identifying and analyzing roof damage specific to hurricane winds. Then, in 1999, their operations expanded to address roof damage from hail.  

Today, RICOWI has combined the old Wind Investigation Program (WIP) and Hail Investigation Program (HIP) into one Storm Investigation Program (SIP), tasked with mobilizing volunteer RICOWI members into small teams to get on storm-damaged roofs, compile damage data and produce comprehensive reports that are available at no charge to members and non-members alike.   

The goal of these studies is to investigate the field performance of roofing assemblies after major weather events and to report “roof assembly performance and modes of damage.” These data are then used to improve building codes, roof systems design, installation procedures and educate the roofing industry and public on how to build stronger, more secure roofing systems.   

The first HIP investigation was launched in the spring of 2004. The program “deployed four teams to Oklahoma City to conduct field investigations of roof damage after the April 21, 2004, Oklahoma City hailstorm was declared a ‘catastrophe’ by the insurance industry.” In the investigation, approximately 100 roofs, both steep- and low- slope were investigated.  

More recently, RICOWI deployed a two-man team to Texas A&M University to study buildings in the aftermath of a severe hail event in March 2025. The scope of this investigation was “to perform a visual survey, analyze relevant roof construction and conditions and determine causation for any roof system anomalies observed during the inspection.”  

Their team has now released the field report from this investigation, providing valuable insights into the impacts hail has on modern roofing materials. This resource is a key part of advancing weather-related roofing science and developing stronger, safer buildings.