This work quantifies the damage caused by moisture in a metal coating system under extreme weathering conditions, using Variable Radius Roll Adhesion Test (VaRRAT). Interfacial toughness (adhesion energy) between the metal oxide and the polymer in painted steel panels, studied by using VaRRAT, is observed to fall with increasing temperature and time of exposure to moisture. Possible cause for irreversible loss in adhesion energy in the paint system is attributed to the sorption of free water at the metal oxide-polymer interface. Different failure responses were observed in two different paint-metal systems. Adsorption or diffusion in the Henry's mode is rate controlling in green paints as indicated by the low activation energy of 12 kJ mol(-1). The white samples showed a high activation energy of 30 kJ mol(-1), indicating a mixed process of diffusion as well as chemical to be rate determining. Different paint/binder ratios are responsible for the different responses of these samples.