Windows in Omaha catch hail on the west glass first. Ice pits the pane, punches screens, and can crack the outer lite of a sealed unit while the inner lite stays intact. The scars show from the yard. Wood windows on brick bungalows in Dundee, Aksarben, and the older north streets often have storm panels or tired glazing compound. Newer vinyl on the west edge of town has a broad face and a flange that wind-driven rain will test after the ice.
Fog between the panes may be the seal giving up after an impact, or it may be age. Feel the glass. Pits you can catch with a fingernail are storm marks. A sash that will not stay up, a crank that spins, and a meeting rail that misses are mechanical problems that hail may have finished or may have nothing to do with. Say which symptoms you have. Replacing every window because one west bedroom was peppered is a different job from repairing the units that actually took the ice.
Full-frame replacement matters when the wood is soft or the brickmold has split and taken on water. Insert replacement makes sense when the frame is square and dry. Omaha's brick openings are not kind to a sloppy set. Ask how the sill is flashed and what fills the gap, especially on a west wall that sees both hail and the afternoon sun. A unit that leaks at the flange will rot the trim around it.
Wind after the hail drives rain sideways into heads and side jambs. Paint bubbles on interior trim a month later are not a mystery. They are the path. If you are filing a claim, photograph the pitted glass, the torn screens, and the elevation that faced the storm before the screens go in the trash. The calm east side of the house is a useful comparison, not the place to start the story.
Say how many openings, which rooms, and whether the frames feel soft. Name the neighborhood and whether hail or a long draft is the reason. If the policy is part of this, have the deductible ready so the glass talk stays concrete. Call the number on this page.