Abstract: A wheel impact load detection system for detecting defects in wheel of railroad vehicles is presented. The system can receive data from sensors and/or a weather station to determine a maximum force applied to a rail, and subsequently calibrate the determined maximum force to account to environmental conditions. Additionally, the present disclosure can assign severity levels and generate alerts with the assigned severity levels, and such severity levels can facilitate the proper prioritization of the alerts. It is an object of the invention to provide a system for accounting for variable environmental conditions and/or variable rail tension in assigning severity levels to mitigate unneeded stoppage of railway traffic.