Storm record glossary: the words a hail and wind report uses, defined

The policy procedure for settling a dispute over the amount of a loss through two appraisers and an umpire, without a court.

The network of automated weather stations, mostly at airports, that records the official surface observations of wind, temperature and precipitation.

Raised bubbles in an asphalt shingle caused by trapped moisture or gas during manufacture or service, often mistaken for hail damage.

A soft, sometimes fractured spot in an asphalt shingle where a hailstone struck and displaced granules, the mark inspectors look for first.

A claim filed under a catastrophe designation, when one storm produces enough losses for insurers to open a dedicated response.

A volunteer who takes daily weather measurements at a fixed site with issued instruments and files them with the National Weather Service.

A policy endorsement that removes coverage for hail or wind damage that changes how a roof looks without changing how it works.

The day damage was first noticed, as distinct from the day the storm happened; the claim turns on the gap between the two.

The calendar date a claim says the damage occurred, which the storm record either holds a report for or does not.

An adjuster who handles a claim from an office, from photographs, estimates and records, without inspecting the property in person.

A tornado's strength as a survey team rated it from the damage it left, on a scale whose wind speeds are inferred from that damage and not measured.

A meteorologist who reconstructs past weather at a place and time for a legal or insurance matter and testifies to it.

Damage that shortens the service life or impairs the water-shedding of a roof covering, as distinct from damage to its appearance.

The diameter of the largest hailstone at a place, reported in inches or by the named object on the spotter chart it was compared with.

The area a storm is estimated to have dropped hail of a given size over, drawn on a map from radar analysis or traced between ground reports.

The moment a loss began, which the standard fire policy uses to start the clock on suit and which a storm claim dates to the storm.

A record-keeping route by which a storm reached the archive, counted once however many rows it produced, so that agreement between routes can be measured.

A report of severe weather at a place and a time, relayed by a National Weather Service office as it comes in and before it is reviewed.

The question of whether replacing damaged material obliges the insurer to replace undamaged material so the repair reads as reasonably uniform.

A radar algorithm's estimate of the largest hail a storm could have produced over a point: an analysis, detected and not measured, never a measurement.

The national network of Doppler weather radars operated by NOAA and its partners, from which every radar-based figure in the record is derived.

The highest wind speed recorded over a brief interval, a few seconds, at a station or by an observer during a storm or a day.

The dates a policy is in force, stated on its declarations page; only a loss that began inside them is the policy's to answer.

An earlier storm that reached the same property before the one a claim is about, and the usual reason a hail claim is disputed.

The sworn statement a policyholder gives the insurer setting out what was lost, when, and for how much, which the policy may require before it pays.

A licensed adjuster retained by the policyholder, paid a share of the recovery, who prepares and negotiates the claim against the insurer.

A hail, rotation or tornado signature an algorithm flagged in one radar's sweep at a recorded time and place, logged as an instrument's observation.

The federal rule governing when an expert may testify, requiring sufficient facts or data and reliable methods reliably applied.

The separating of damage a policy covers from damage it does not, and the burden, usually the policyholder's, of showing how much is which.

An official National Weather Service warning that a storm meeting the severe criteria for hail or wind is occurring or imminent inside a drawn area.

The thin metal surfaces on a property, such as vents, flashing and gutters, that dent readily and are read as a gauge of whether and how hard hail fell.

A preliminary hail, wind or tornado report collected nationally by the Storm Prediction Center from forecast offices on the day it was filed.

An eyewitness report of hail, wind or a tornado made by a person at the scene and passed to a forecast office, with the place and time attached.

A calendar date on which hail, wind or tornado reports were filed, counted as one day however many reports it carries.

The federal archive of reviewed storm reports, compiled by forecast offices and published by NCEI between two and three months after each month ends.

The track a storm or tornado followed across the ground, recorded as a surveyed line, a pair of endpoints or a sequence of reports.

A ground or aerial examination of storm damage by a National Weather Service team, made to fix a tornado's path, width and rating after the event.

The wind speed averaged over a fixed interval of a couple of minutes at a station, as distinct from the peak gust within it.

A marked square on a roof slope, by convention one hundred square feet, inside which hail hits are counted to decide what the slope needs.

A volunteer who has completed National Weather Service spotter training and reports severe weather to a forecast office by an agreed method.

The third member of an appraisal panel, chosen by the two appraisers or named by a court, whose agreement with either one makes an award.

The area a forecaster draws when issuing a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning, inside which the warning applies and outside which it does not.