Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall and Medina: the Hondo stone and ridge-top wind

Four counties, four different records

NOAA's Storm Events Database gives these counts for 2016 through 2025:

Medina logs fewer inch-plus events than Comal but nearly four times as many of 2 inches or more (NCEI).

April 28, 2021: the Hondo hailstone

A National Weather Service survey team and staff from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety took official measurements of a hailstone that fell at a Hondo residence during a supercell on the evening of April 28, 2021. Using 3D scanning, IBHS put its maximum diameter at 6.416 inches (NCEI event 956759), second only to the 2024 Vigo Park stone among Texas hailstones in the database from 2000 through 2025.

It was not a lone stone. Photos showed several hailstones over 5 inches and significant damage to roofs, cars, windows and buildings in and around Hondo (NCEI event 954466). In D'Hanis, a survey found RVs with holes in their roofs and holes in siding (NCEI event 956762), and most of the wind damage around Hondo came from straight-line winds estimated at 75 to 110 mph (NCEI event 954955).

Boerne and Kendall County

On May 3, 2021, baseball-size hail fell at the Tapatio Springs golf club outside Boerne (NCEI event 960885) and 2.5-inch hail in Boerne itself (NCEI event 960873). Years earlier, on May 27, 2009, grapefruit-size hail near Boerne smashed windows and dented roofs (NCEI event 163682).

Flooding has driven the recent federal declarations. After catastrophic flash flooding on the Guadalupe River left water 5.6 feet above the 7th Street bridge in Comfort on July 4, 2025 (NCEI event 1287672), FEMA's DR-4879 covered Kendall and Guadalupe counties. The flooding emergency EM-3649 of July 18, 2026 includes Comal, Kendall and Medina, and major disaster DR-4935, declared September 1, 2026 for storms and flooding beginning July 12, includes Kendall.

Comal County and the Canyon Lake ridges

On October 24, 2025, a National Weather Service survey near Canyon Lake found a home on the western top of a high ridge with part of its roof torn away and thrown about 100 yards, and a detached garage that lost its roof (NCEI event 1297494). At a second ridge-top house, surveyors judged the most likely cause to be a roof completely exposed to the surging rear-flank downdraft at a significantly higher elevation (NCEI event 1297495). On March 23, 2021, an EF1 tornado on the west side of the lake tore off about a quarter of a single-family home (NCEI event 949476).

For a hilltop house, that record argues for spending on wind performance rather than trimming it. TDI's storm repair guidance names the wind tests to look for on an asphalt shingle wrapper, ASTM D 3161 Class F or ASTM D 7158 Class H, and those labels cost you nothing to check.

Seguin and Guadalupe County

Guadalupe logs the least hail of the four, but not the least wind. On October 30, 2015, a tornado that formed south of Cordova Road near Seguin traveled about 8.3 miles, damaging roughly 20 homes and destroying about five, and was rated EF2 (NCEI event 605508).

Permits in New Braunfels

The City of New Braunfels answers its own most common question on its building permits page: re-roofing needs a permit, as do remodels, siding replacement and garage conversions, and roofing is one of the residential permit types you can apply for online. Ask your roofer to show you the permit before the tear-off starts.

Roofers in New Braunfels, Boerne, Seguin and Schertz

The National Roofing Directory lists roofers by city for New Braunfels, Boerne, Seguin and Schertz.

Frequently asked questions

How big was the Hondo hailstone?

IBHS used 3D scanning to measure its maximum diameter at 6.416 inches after the April 28, 2021 storm, working with a National Weather Service survey team (NCEI event 956759).

Do I need a permit to re-roof in New Braunfels?

Yes. The city's building permits page says re-roofing requires a permit, and roofing permits can be submitted through its online portal.

Why do some Canyon Lake roofs lose more in a storm than others nearby?

Exposure is one reason. In an October 2025 survey, the National Weather Service judged that one home's roof damage most likely came from its position on a high ridge, fully exposed to a storm's rear-flank downdraft (NCEI event 1297495).