Price Of Hail Storms Hits $4 Billion
Hail storms, once a secondary weather occurrence back-burnered by thunderstorms and tornados, cost insurers $4 billion last year. In 2024, some hail was the size of a baseball.
More Weather News –Mexico City Out Of Water
According to Bloomberg, “The middle of the US has perfect geographical conditions for creating hail. There is a deep pool of warm moist air in the Gulf of Mexico, cool air descending from Canada and atmospheric instability as the winds come in off the Pacific and cross the Rocky Mountains. This turns the Great Plains into a hail factory, said Lou Gritzo, chief science officer at FM Global, an industrial insurer.”
Why The Storms Are Worse
Two factors have increased the problem. The first is global warming, which has heated the air and contributed to thunderstorms. The other reason is urban and suburban sprawl. More houses are concentrated in smaller areas. The size of storms covering smaller areas geographically can do more damage than several decades ago.
The hail problem is another example of how violent weather can occur quickly and almost without warning. One of the most recent cases was 100 MPH winds and tremendous rain at a near-record speed per hour in Houston.
Much of the world’s weather is getting worse by the year. At the current pace, what was once rare will become common.
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