Two very different failure modes. Two very different claims.
Hail damage on asphalt shingles
Soft, round bruises typically 0.5 to 1.5 inches in diameter where the granules have been knocked off and the underlying mat is exposed and slightly indented. Often accompanied by dented metal — gutter aprons, vent caps, AC condenser fins. Almost never visible from the ground.
Wind damage on asphalt shingles
Creased shingles (a horizontal line across the tab from the shingle flexing in the gust), lifted or detached tabs, missing tabs entirely, displaced or missing ridge cap shingles, debris on the lawn. Often visible from the ground if it is severe.
Why the distinction matters
Hail and wind are both covered perils under standard HO-3 policies in Illinois, but they have different reporting windows in some policies (hail often 180 days; wind usually one year), they require different documentation (chalk-marked hail strike close-ups; photo-and-narrative for wind), and they generate different repair scopes.
We walk every slope, chalk-mark every hail strike, photograph every wind-displaced shingle, and write the report in a format your adjuster can paste into their system. If both perils are present (common on stronger storm cells), we document both and file them as a single claim.
What you should do right now
Look up the NOAA storm data for your zip code over the last 12 months. If there was a 1-inch-plus hail event or a 60-mph-plus wind gust, get a free inspection. The window closes faster than most homeowners realize.