About

The New Way to|

Hail Trace is a weather consulting company that excels in weather forensics. We have a team of 4 meteorology experts that analyze every hail storm across the country then develop hail maps for each storm showing the size of hail, duration of hail, number of homes impacted, and wind speed and direction. We can then take this knowledge to alert you immediately to a new hail storm then create and move a marketing plan into action.

Leading Edge Dual-Pol Radar Technology

We use the latest in radar technology allowing us to accurately depict the hail size in any storm. This includes small hail storms, large hail storms, & high volume hail storms.

Hands on Customer Support

Hail Trace always has meteorologist on call before, after, & during all severe weather events.

Years of Meteorology Experience

Our in-house meteorologists use a multi-step process to determine what areas have the highest potential for hail storm damage.

Multiple Hail Reporting Databases

We gather data from the hundreds of radar sites in the United Sates and analyze it to produce the most comprehensive hail storm data.

5000+Happy Clients

4200+Certified Hail Maps

4Meteorology Experts

18000+Hail Analysis Hours

Our Mission

Hail Trace's mission is to partner with restoration companies by providing industry leading ideas, marketing strategies, and weather related data. Assisting them in accomplishing maximum growth while delivering a client-first mentality and a world class experience!

Our Vision

Hail Trace's vision is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Hail Trace.

Lead Meteorologist John Choquette looking at radar during a storm chase near Marietta, OK in the 2019 spring season.

Meteorologist Heather Caye viewing mammatus clouds near Chickasha, OK during the 2019 storm season.

Meteorologist Frank Gataeno near Hobart, OK during a storm chase in the 2019 season.

CEO Derik Kline glances at the sky during a storm chase in El Reno, OK during the 2019 season.

Behind the scenes look at the daily live forecast with Lead Meteorologist John Choquette.

Account Executive Brandon Williams at the 2019 IRE in Nashville, TN.

CEO Derik Kline giving a talk at the 2019 IRE in Nashville, TN.

The lobby of the Hail Palace, located in Edmond, OK.

CEO Derik Kline and Director of Operations Matt Grassmyer pin the first 5 Star Map of the 2019 hail season.

Our Team

Brandon WilliamsAccount ExecutiveAccount Executive Brandon Williams was born and raised in Oklahoma. He received his Bachelors Degree in Business from Oklahoma State University. Brandon’s role with Hail Trace consists of Sales, Client Relations, Account Management, and more. When he isn’t traveling or working, Brandon has a lovely new wife, 7 year old son, and soon to be baby girl. He coaches his son's sports teams, enjoys playing with his dog, or spending quality time with family. If you ask Brandon's wife the reason why he loves his job so much, she will say it's because he gets the chance to talk all day long.

Josh HartzellSenior DeveloperJosh is a self-taught software engineer, rejoining Hail Trace in 2019 after previously building the first custom version of Hail Trace around 2014. Having worked on the largest custom personnel management platform for a Department of Defense contract at HP back in 2011, Josh brings over 10 years of professional experience in backend system development to the team. Outside of software engineering, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife and son taking them bowling, camping and traveling.

Melissa BaumanAdministrative Support RepMelissa Bauman joined Hail Trace in April of 2018 to provide administrative support to our entire team. She handles client customer service and billing, and Accounts Receivable. Originally from Texas, she loves living in the heart of Oklahoma City where she enjoys local venues, arts and music, and volunteering with local non-profits.

Ally BurtMedia SpecialistAlly Burt was born and raised in eastern Oklahoma. She attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK as well as the University of Oklahoma where she majored in Visual Media with an emphasis on traditional film photography practices. Ally joined the Hail Trace team in March of 2019 as our Media Specialist. She also helps out with office organization and event planning. She enjoys ranking potato salads, traveling, record collecting and napping with her two dogs, Cash and Carter.

Heather CayeMeteorologistHeather is a meteorologist from Allen Park, Michigan, a southern suburb of Detroit, and has been with Hail Trace since April 2014. She attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Science, along with a minor in Statistics and a certificate in GIS, in 2010. She then earned her Master's Degree in Atmospheric Science with a Meteorology concentration in 2012 from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. As one of Hail Trace's Meteorological experts, Heather has analyzed over 14,000 hours of Radar data and has garnered the nickname Hail Princess for her ability to compile precise Site-Specific Forensic Reports. When Heather is not busy giving the best Hail Trace experience possible to our clients, she enjoys playing the piano, photography, and playing with her fur baby cat Ebony.

Amanda RaggioCustomer Service RepAmanda joined the Hail Trace team in May 2019. As a positive and encouraging person. She has owned the Customer Service Representative role. She loves assisting our clients with needs, questions, and requests, because as a native Oklahoman, she is all too familiar with severe weather. Amanda is a coffee connoisseur and enjoys living in the Oklahoma City area with her husband, Austin, and their two dogs, Apollo and Athena.

Austin HuntCTOBorn in Zambia, Africa; Austin Hunt has lived more years in Africa than in the USA. He started learning to code in Zambia using an old iBook G4 and dial-up speed internet, and he is still just as passionate about building software as he was the day he got his first website off the ground. He graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI in 2015 with his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He got married in 2016 to Rachel and had his first son (Caspian) on Jan 8, 2019. Right now, in addition to working for Hail Trace, he is working on his Masters of Divinity at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in Allan Park, MI. He loves Jesus, his church, and his family; he spends any free time he gets with them.

Frank GaetanoMeteorologistMeteorologist Frank Gaetano grew up in New England in the town of Middlebury, CT. He attended college at Western Connecticut State University when he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Operational Meteorology. Aside from being sports obsessive, winter weather was his main area of interest growing up due to the lack of impressive severe thunderstorms in the region, but he always knew he would end up moving to somewhere in tornado alley where he currently resides in Oklahoma City, OK. Frank is also a portrait and landscape photographer in his spare time and plans yearly trips to National Parks for travel photography. He has been with Hail Trace since April 2015 and has thousands of hours of hail analysis experience.

Matt GrassmyerDirector of OperationsMatt Grassmyer, Director of Operations for Hail Trace, is from Tulsa Oklahoma. He moved to Edmond in 2002 and fell in love with central OK. Matt has been a part of the Hail Trace team since 2016. As an expert in leadership, communication, and customer experience, Matt excels at helping clients maximize their profitability. While most of his off time is spent with his amazing wife, Caitlin and his son Trafford, Matt is also an avid runner with two marathons already in the books.

Cody OldacreAccount ExecutiveCody Oldacre joined the Hail Trace team in January 2019 as one of our Account Executives. He currently resides in the Tulsa, OK area after spending the last several years in Raleigh, NC. Cody graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and received his M.Div. from Southeastern Seminary. He enjoys spending time with his wife, little boy, two dogs, and watching the OKC Thunder.

Derik KlineCEODerik Kline is a self-described weather nerd. From an early age, he has been fascinated by severe weather. A true Oklahoman, Derik went on his first storm chase at the age of sixteen. As the owner of Hail Trace LLC, he carries that same passion into every interaction. His drive to succeed has helped Derik establish the number one weather consulting business in the industry. He is focused on bringing the best products and customer service to the restoration world. If he is not spending time with his amazing wife and four children, you can probably find him pursuing his other love, storm chasing.

John ChoquetteLead MeteorologistLead Meteorologist John Choquette was born and raised in Connecticut. He lived in the New England area before moving to Oklahoma to join the Hail Trace team in February 2014. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Operational Meteorology from Western Connecticut State University. John knew he wanted to be a weatherman since he was in grade school. When he isn't working, John enjoys cooking, gardening and playing with his two dogs, Cash and Carter.

Chris WhiteMeteorologistChris White is a born and bred Oklahoman. He studied meteorology at the University of Oklahoma and also honed in his knowledge of severe weather through nearly 30 years of storm chasing. He also has over 15 years of experience in IT, including four certifications. His knowledge of IT along with over three decades of severe weather knowledge has made him instrumental in furthering our research into the makings of hard and soft hail. Chris has lead an adventurous life, at one point working at Grand Canyon National Park and was also on a paintball team that won the World Cup in 1999. When he isn’t chasing or working he loves spending time with his lovely wife Shirley and going on road trips.

Stephen BarabasMeteorologistMeteorologist Stephen Barabas hails from Southbury, CT. He attended Western Connecticut State University where he obtained Bachelors Degrees in Operational and Theoretical Meteorology. Stephen joined the Hail Trace team in July of 2019. Before that time, he spent two storm seasons working on chase tours. When he isn’t working or chasing, Stephen enjoys barbequing.