Hailstorm Loss Modelling and Risk Assessment in the Sydney Region,Australia

This paper summarises work undertaken at the Natural Hazards ResearchCentre with regard to the compilation, climatological analysis and lossmodelling application of hailstorm data for the greater Sydney region. Itdiscusses the results from two associated research areas: ENSO-relatedclimatological analysis of hailstorm data, and insurance sector orientedrisk assessment of hail losses in the Sydney basin. The two complementaryprojects led to the development of HailAUS, the first hail loss model for amajor urban area in Australia. The hazard occurrence module of the hailloss model is based on a comprehensive, good quality hail data set, whoseinterannual variability has previously been analysed with regard to the ENSOsignal. The paper presents the major results of the local hail data climatology,and outlines the structure of the hail loss model. The important practicalapplications that result from the collection and analysis of good qualityclimatological data are noted.     

Development and behaviour of a radar-based operational tool for hailstorms identification

Hailstorms are a common meteorological phenomenon in Spain which causes substantial economic damage especially in spring and summer. During 2000 and 2001, a radar-based application for convective monitoring was developed at STAP (Forecasting and Analysis Techniques Department); in order to improve this nowcasting tool, it is needed to include an advanced procedure to estimate the presence of hail as a complementary module in the operational application. A preliminary study, carried out during 2001, showed that the Waldvogel technique, VIL (vertical integrated liquid) density and the hail detection algorithm (HDA) are the methodologies which proved more accurate in our latitudes.Throughout the spring and summer of 2001, all available information about hail events (time, place and hail size) and about storms without hail was used for tuning an experimental module to detect severe and non-severe hailstorms, taking into account the selected algorithms. During 2002, further information about storms was gathered in order to assess the behaviour of the developed hail module. Afterwards, a new module calibration was carried out with the information of the complete storms data set of 2001 and 2002. With this new calibration, the hail module became an operational tool during the spring and summer of 2003. Currently, the verification of the operational module using the data from the storms in 2003 is being elaborated. The aim of this work is to put forward the calibration procedure carried out, the verification results of 2002, and the performance of the hail estimate module in selected cases during 2003 in Spain.     

Advances in tornado and storm research in the United Kingdom and Europe: the role of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation

The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) was formed in the UK in 1974 in order to determine realistic spatial, temporal and intensity distributions of tornadoes in the UK and, eventually, throughout Europe. Currently, TORRO's databases contain nearly 2000 tornadoes and over 550 waterspouts for the UK alone. In 1972, TORRO's founder, Terence Meaden, devised the Tornado Intensity Scale. This scale enables the wind speeds of tornadoes to be rated on a scale from T0 to T10, or more (since it is an open-ended scale). Using this scale, estimates have been made of the statistical return periods of differing intensities of UK tornadoes. TORRO's research into understanding the conditions of tornado development is ultimately intended to lead to issuing forecasts of tornadoes. In 1991, TORRO issued the first tornado watch in the UK for 12 November and this proved to be accurate—not only did three property-damaging tornadoes strike East Anglia but the forecast maximum intensity of T5 was attained. In 1975, TORRO expanded its activities to include conventional thunderstorm reporting and investigations. In 1982, TORRO incorporated the British and Irish thunderstorm data-collection organisation, the Thunderstorm Census Organisation (TCO), which was established in 1924. By the early 1980s, TORRO's network of voluntary thunderstorm observers, located throughout the UK and Ireland and increasingly in other European countries, numbered around 350 and the network continues to grow. In addition to TORRO's early focus on tornadoes and thunderstorms, its data collection and research has expanded to consider other whirlwinds (such as waterspouts and land devils), hailstorms, lightning (including ball lightning) and blizzards/heavy snowfalls. In 1996, TORRO began providing easy access to its databases (e.g. post-1995 UK and European severe weather events, especially tornadoes and hailstorms) and other information via its internet site at http://www.torro.org.uk/. Building on over 25 years of experience—and of the half a century of the TCO before it—TORRO continues to expand its European role in severe weather data collection and research, helped by the on-going appointment of European representatives and its increasing European membership.     

The characteristics of cloud-to-ground lightning activity in hailstorms over northern China

The characteristics of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning for ten hailstorms in Shandong Province of China were analyzed statistically. It is found that the hailstorms in this study present dominant positive CG flashes during periods of falling hail. One specific hailstorm on 16 June 2006 was studied in detail using the data from a CG lightning location network, Doppler radar and cloud images. Comparison between the brightness temperature of cloud-top and CG flash locations indicated that most flashes occurred in the region with temperatures lower than − 40 °C, while dense positive CG flashes occurred in the range between − 40 °C and − 50 °C. Negative CG flashes occurred mostly in the relative weak radar echo region, and positive CG flashes were distributed in the strong echo region especially with a large gradient of echo intensity. CG flashes tended to occur in the cloud region with reflectivity between 25 dBZ and 35 dBZ. Comparison between the wind field retrieved from Doppler radar and the location of CG flashes indicated that the flashes were located in the convergent region at lower to middle levels.     

Climatology of severe hailstorms in Great Britain

The annual and seasonal frequency, geographical distribution, and intensity of British hailstorms are examined. In 1986, the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) developed a Hailstorm Intensity Scale to characterise around 2500 hailstorms known to have occurred in Great Britain since the first documented hailstorm event of 1141 AD. The most intense British hailstorm reached intensity H8 on the TORRO international scale which extends from intensities H0 to H10. This paper focuses on over 800 hailstorms that reached TORRO intensity of H3 or more, the “severe” category. Analyses are presented for the historical period and the most recent 50-year period, 1950 to 1999. Consideration is given to examining the 50 most intense hailstorms (TORRO intensity H5–6 or more) known to have occurred in Britain since 1650. These storms all occurred between the months of May and September with a well-defined peak during July. These exceptional storms typically followed a track from the S, SSW or SW to the N, NNE or NE with a swath length of 25 km or more (reaching 335 km in one case) and a swath width sometimes in excess of 10 km.