One of the interesting things about living in the Midwest is that every season brings with it a new weather challenge. While those on the coasts or who are located in the southern part of the country tend to deal with many of the same struggles throughout the year, the Midwest is quite different. We get a lot of questions from homeowners about whether or not they should hold off repairing their homes or replacing a roof until ‘after storm season is over’. What we always tell them is, “In the Midwest, storm season is never over!” If you need a new roof or if there is damage to your siding or windows, you should get an estimate from a professional Nebraska contractor like A&A Roofing & Exteriors.
Due to the frequent passages of differentair masses and the unstable atmosphere in the middle parts of the country, wehave a variety of different types of storms throughout the year. It often seemsthat not a week passes without some type of storm that carries the potentialfor damage. Here are the different storm seasons in the Midwest and what itmeans for your home.
April-June
April-June is generally recognized as tornado season in the Midwest. Though tornadoes can technically occur in any month, most of the damaging and dangerous twisters occur during the late spring/early summer. The United States averages around 1200 tornadoes a year, more than half occurring between April and June. A tornado can rip the siding or shingles off homes, break windows, and, in the worst case scenario, completely destroy a house. Even if a tornado does actually hit your home, the high winds associated with this type of storm can easily do damage on its own.
April-October
Thunderstorms are extremely common in the Midwest from late spring to early fall. May-July show the strongest possibility for strong thunderstorms as this is when moist, tropical wind tends to collide with continental polar air masses. Thunderstorms pose a number of risks to your home ranging from heavy wind and flooding to hail and direct lightning strikes. These can lead to damage to roofs, siding, windows, and any other outdoor structures. Flooding can also have devastating effects, as we’ve recently seen in the Omaha area.
December-March
As soon as winter hits, the Midwestnormally gets blasted with snow, ice, and full-on blizzards. Though there havebeen plenty of snowstorms in October and November, they usually don’t hitfull-force until December. For a storm to qualify as a blizzard, there must bewinds of at least 35 miles per hour. In addition, blowing snow must reducevisibility to less than 0.25 miles and both of these conditions must persistfor at least three hours.
Accumulation of heavy snow can causeroofs to collapse inward if not removed. It can also cause damage to trees andthose damaged trees can also cause damage to your home in the form of brokenwindows or damaged roofs and siding. Ice can cause damaging ice dams on yourroof and high winds can break glass, tear off shingles, or damage siding.
As you can see, there is no “safe”season in the Midwest when it comes to storms! If you are waiting to repairyour home until after storm season, you could be unpleasantly surprised byanother storm that causes even more damage. You can also leave your homevulnerable to water or other damage that, when not fixed promptly, can lead tomuch higher repair bills.
Keep your family and your possessions safe by contacting A&A Roofing & Exteriors, a professional Midwest-area contractor, to assess any damage to your home and have repairs or replacements done as soon as possible!
