How to choose hail monitoring for a commercial or multifamily portfolio
Short answer
Hail monitoring checks hail data against your buildings and tells you when a storm may have hit one. For a commercial or multifamily portfolio it comes as services built for owners, map subscriptions with contractor sales tools, insurer verification reports, data APIs, or a system built on free NOAA data. The options differ in where the data comes from, what hail size triggers an alert, whether a person reviews it, how much history comes with it and price. Published prices include monitoring complimentary for qualified owners at HailSolve, $199 per property per year at HailFlash, $999 to $1,999 a year at Interactive Hail Maps and paid plans from $35 a month at the Swath API; Cloudbreak lists no upfront cost.1,2,3,4,5 Cloudbreak combines a dated pre-loss record of every building, a proprietary predictive storm engine, built with AI and backed by meteorologists, that alerts before a storm and confirms what hit after it against each roof's thresholds, an on-call team for urgent matches, policy review approved by a licensed broker and one agreement for the whole portfolio.6,5,7,8 NOAA's storm reports and radar hail estimates are free to download, but turning them into reliable alerts for real buildings is an engineering project of its own.
Cloudbreak team · Updated October 28, 2026 · 8 min read · 33 sources
What to compare
- Radar estimates: MESH, NOAA's radar estimate of the largest hail, covers the contiguous United States on a grid of about 1 km (0.6 mile), updated every 2 minutes, and was designed so 75% of observed hail sizes fall below it.9,10
- Ground reports: SPC's list comes from NWS local storm reports and is preliminary and likely incomplete; where few people live, hail may go unreported, or the report may not show the largest hail.11,10
- Alert speed: HailStrike sends alerts within minutes of detected activity, Interactive Hail Maps sends real-time radar alerts, HailFlash notifies the day after hail, and Cloudbreak's storm engine alerts its team within a minute when a dangerous storm is headed for a building, then confirms what hit after the storm.12,3,2,5
- Roof-aware thresholds: HailFlash alerts on hail 1 inch or larger at a registered address. HailSolve's experts weigh roof type, hail size and building condition. Cloudbreak starts each property at 0.75 inch hail and 50 mph wind and adjusts both to the roof after an inspection.2,1,5
- Human review: HailSolve reviews each flagged alert by hand before notifying, HailFlash uses NWS radar data verified by a trained meteorologist, HailTrace meteorologists draw its maps by hand from radar and ground reports, and Cloudbreak's meteorologists and team review each flag before an account owner contacts the client.1,13,14,5
- History: HailSolve reports list every storm with hail 0.5 inch or larger in the last 10 years at commercial buildings, HailStrike searches back to January 2011, Interactive Hail Maps includes 10+ years of maps, and SPC's free report archive starts June 1, 1999.15,16,17,3,18
- Records: HailTrace sells reports for $40 (weather history), $150 (meteorologist reviewed) and $1,000 (detailed analysis of the storm event). Cotality's reports show hail 0.75 inch or larger at the location and within 1, 3 and 5 miles. Cloudbreak saves each match with the evidence behind it, next to a dated pre-loss record of photos, drone video and notes.19,20,5,6
- Who it is built for: HailTrace, asked how it helps contractors, calls itself a sales and opportunity-generating tool, and Interactive Hail Maps plans include canvassing and contact data. HailSolve and HailFlash describe monitoring for commercial owners, and Cotality says its reports are used by most major insurance carriers.21,14,3,1,13,20
Hail monitoring options compared
| Option | Data | Alerts | History | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudbreak | A proprietary predictive storm engine, plus a dated pre-loss record of each roof and exterior | Alerts before a storm and confirmed matches after it, against each property's roof-based thresholds; urgent matches picked up within 15 minutes, day or night, and a person contacts you within 24 hours | Every match saved with the evidence behind it; free hail history by address since 2010 | No upfront cost; one agreement for the portfolio; free storm alerts and free hail history for up to 100 addresses |
| Cotality Weather Verify | Proprietary algorithm on forensic and Level 2 radar data | Verification reports and hail size maps; no alert service described | Not stated | Not listed; bought online, by license or by API, with volume discounts |
| HailFlash (Hail Alert Technologies) | NWS radar data verified by a meteorologist | Email the next day for hail 1 inch or larger at the address, with a map and largest size | Hail History product and a REST API | $199 per property per year; an apartment complex's buildings can count as one location |
| HailSolve | Its own database drawn from several sources | Experts review each alert against the roof before notifying | 10 years, hail 0.5 inch or larger | Monitoring complimentary for qualified owners, no property limit |
| HailStrike | NOAA, NWS and SPC data plus patented radar analysis | Spotter alerts by text or email; radar alerts for up to 300 sites on Ultimate | Since 2011 | $149 or $249 a month, or $2,500 a year |
| HailTrace | Maps drawn by meteorologists from dual-pol radar and ground reports | Real-time notifications, including for uploaded assets | Archive of maps | Free 1-star maps; paid plan prices not listed; reports $40 to $1,000 |
| Interactive Hail Maps | Radar hail swaths plus on-the-ground reports | Real-time radar alerts; unlimited address monitoring | 10+ years of maps | $999 one state, $1,499 three states, $1,999 national plan, per year |
| Swath API | NOAA MRMS radar | Webhook or email when a verified storm crosses a monitored area | Map layer 30 days; 12 months with a $99 a month add-on | Free trial; Starter $35 a month for 5,000 credits |
A Cloudbreak match means a storm at or above the threshold reached or came near the building; it is not a damage assessment.5
What Cloudbreak includes
- A dated pre-loss record of every building: each roof section, every elevation, drone photos and video, and exterior equipment, with original files and timestamps intact.6
- Inspections by certified partners, scheduled where each property is.6,8
- A proprietary predictive storm engine that alerts before a storm and confirms what hit each building after it, against thresholds adjusted to each roof after inspection.5
- An on-call team that picks up urgent matches within 15 minutes, day or night, and a person who contacts you within 24 hours.5,8
- A policy review that ties limits, deductibles and exclusions to each property, approved by a licensed insurance broker.7
- One agreement for the whole portfolio, with no upfront cost.8
- Free hail history for any address since 2010, a free report for up to 100 addresses, and free storm alerts.29,30,5
What building your own takes
The raw data is free: SPC posts each day's hail reports as CSV files back to June 1, 1999, and NOAA's MRMS radar grids sit on AWS on a 2-minute cycle.18,31
Turning it into alerts for real buildings means building and running each of these:
- Collecting reports every day and handling the gaps: SPC's list is preliminary, a report sent more than 10 days late never appears, and the final record takes NCEI a few months.11
- Removing duplicate reports: SPC's regular files merge reports at the same time and place, while raw files keep every decoded report.11
- Decoding radar: MESH comes as GRIB2 grids in millimeters, as swath maximums over 30 to 1,440 minutes.32,33
- Correcting for the radar's bias: MESH was designed so 75% of observed hail falls below it, and it underestimates some storm types.9
- Keeping up with NOAA's changes: MRMS moved to version 12 on October 14, 2020, and NOAA advises caution with older products.31
- Matching each building: report locations have two decimal places of latitude and longitude, and a MESH grid cell is about 1 km on a side.11,9
- Then the parts no data feed supplies: thresholds set to each roof after an inspection, people on call to act on a match, a dated record of each building, and a review of the policy.
Cloudbreak's estimate is 4 to 6 months of full-time engineering for the data and alerts alone, then ongoing upkeep; inspections, people on call and policy review come on top. With Cloudbreak they are included, with no upfront cost.5
A checklist for choosing
- Data: radar estimates, ground reports or both, and how each alert is checked.
- Threshold: one fixed size (1 inch at HailFlash), alerts reviewed against each roof (HailSolve), or thresholds set per property (Cloudbreak).2,1,5
- Review: a person between the data and the alert, or none.
- Speed and recipients: minutes, next day or nightly, and how many managers get each notice.
- History: years of past hail at each building (10 at HailSolve, back to 2011 at HailStrike).15,16
- Records: each match saved with its source report, and what a meteorologist reviewed report costs.
- Cost basis: per property, per state, per month, per credit, complimentary for qualified owners, or no upfront cost.
- Audience: monitoring for owners, or a contractor lead tool with canvassing features.
- Inspections: whether a dated record of each building comes with the service, and who schedules it where your properties are.
- Response: how fast a person acts on a match, day or night.
- Policy: whether someone reads your deductibles and exclusions against each building.
- Contract: one agreement for the portfolio, or one per property or per state.
How Cloudbreak helps
For portfolios
One agreement covers every property, inspections are scheduled wherever your buildings are, and there's no upfront cost.
Storm monitoring
Our proprietary predictive storm engine, built with AI and backed by meteorologists, watches every building against its own roof-based thresholds; our on-call team picks up urgent matches within 15 minutes, day or night.
Pre-loss documentation
A dated record of every roof section, elevation and rooftop unit, in photos, drone video and notes, with original files and timestamps intact.
Policy review
Your deductibles, limits, exclusions and roof endorsements read against each property, with questions for your broker; a licensed broker approves every report.
Questions
- What hail monitoring solution fits a commercial real estate portfolio of under 100 properties?
- Services that describe monitoring for commercial owners include HailSolve (complimentary for qualified owners, alerts reviewed against each roof), Hail Alert Technologies' HailFlash ($199 per property per year, alerts at 1 inch or larger) and Cloudbreak (a dated pre-loss record of each building, alerts before and after a storm against roof-based thresholds, a person within 24 hours, policy review, one agreement and no upfront cost).1,2,5,6,7,8
- Should we use a hail monitoring vendor or build our own system?
- The data is free, but building on it means handling preliminary and late reports, duplicates, a radar estimate designed to run high, and matching each building to the data. Cloudbreak estimates 4 to 6 months of full-time engineering for the data and alerts alone, before inspections, people on call and policy review, which a service like Cloudbreak includes with no upfront cost.11,31,10,5
- What is a hail alert service for commercial properties?
- A service that checks hail data against registered addresses and sends notice when hail meets a set size. HailFlash, for example, notifies the day after hail 1 inch or larger is detected at a registered address, with a small hail map and the largest stone to the nearest 0.25 inch. A Cloudbreak match means a storm at or above the threshold reached the property or came near it; it is not a damage assessment.2,5
- How do hail tracking services for property managers compare?
- They differ first in who they serve: HailTrace calls itself a sales and opportunity-generating tool for contractors, and Interactive Hail Maps plans include canvassing and contact data, while HailSolve and HailFlash describe monitoring for commercial owners. Data, threshold, review, history and price differ too.21,14,3,1,13
Cloudbreak
The owner-side property protection team for commercial and multifamily owners in storm country: a dated record of every building, nightly storm checks and a review of your policy, before a loss.
Sources
Written by the Cloudbreak team. Numbers, dates and rules cite the published sources below.
- 1. HailSolve: Hail Monitoring
- 2. Hail Alert Technologies: Terms of Service (effective May 29, 2025)
- 3. Interactive Hail Maps: Plans and Pricing
- 4. Swath API: Pricing
- 5. Cloudbreak: Storm monitoring for commercial and multifamily property
- 6. Cloudbreak: Commercial roof inspection and pre-loss documentation
- 7. Cloudbreak: Commercial property insurance policy review
- 8. Cloudbreak: Storm protection for your whole portfolio
- 9. NOAA NWS Warning Decision Training Division: Maximum Estimated Size of Hail (MESH)
- 10. American Meteorological Society, via NOAA Storm Prediction Center: An Hourly Climatology of Operational MRMS MESH-Diagnosed Severe and Significant Hail with Comparisons to Storm Data Hail Reports (Wendt and Jirak, Weather and Forecasting, 2021)
- 11. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: SPC Frequently Asked Questions
- 12. HailStrike (Dynamic Weather Solutions): Frequently Asked Questions
- 13. Hail Alert Technologies: Hail Alert Technologies home page (HailFlash)
- 14. HailTrace: Frequently Asked Questions
- 15. HailSolve: Historical Hail Data Report
- 16. HailStrike (Dynamic Weather Solutions): Subscription Pricing
- 17. HailStrike (Dynamic Weather Solutions): OneSite Mobile
- 18. NOAA Storm Prediction Center: Today's Storm Reports
- 19. HailTrace: Hail Reports
- 20. Cotality: Claims Weather Verify Hail Overview
- 21. HailTrace: Plans and Pricing
- 22. Hail Alert Technologies: The price for a hail monitoring service
- 23. Hail Alert Technologies: Technology
- 24. HailSolve: Hail Data Expertise
- 25. HailStrike (Dynamic Weather Solutions): Hail Alerts: Spotter and Radar
- 26. Cotality: Weather Verify
- 27. Swath API: Swath API Docs
- 28. Swath API: What Swath does, for developers
- 29. Cloudbreak: Hail history by address
- 30. Cloudbreak: Portfolio hail report
- 31. NOAA Open Data Dissemination, Registry of Open Data on AWS: NOAA Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor System (MRMS)
- 32. NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory: NSSL Projects: Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor System (MRMS)
- 33. NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory: Operational MRMS GRIB2 Tables