Hail storms

[Bob Crowley]

We've had a few storms in the SE Queensland area lately which have produced giant hail.

While isolated incidents are not rare, there have been several storms lately which have done this.

We had big hail ourselves in October 2020 which smashed about 14 of our roof tiles, and damaged the carport and patio roofs. One of the hail stones was about four inches across and smashed three tiles by itself.

But it's rare to have several storms which produce big hail.

'Unusually active': Ten giant hail warnings for SEQ this storm season

The region has been hit by another round of storms which brought large and even giant hailstones. Is this the new normal?

www.abc.net.au

For at least the sixth time in as many weeks, parts of south-east Queensland have been lashed by hailstones causing widespread destruction to property and vehicles.

On Monday, giant 14-centimetre hailstones were recorded in Chandler, in Brisbane's south-east, while 11-centimetre stones fell on the city's bayside.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) classifies giant hail as stones with a diameter larger than 5 centimetres.

And while residents of the country's most natural disaster-prone state are no strangers to wild weather, the spate of hailstorms has many questioning if it's going to become a more regular occurrence.

 

[Bob Crowley]

I suppose I should add the big concern is whether this is going to become an increasing occurrence with climate change.

Insurance premiums have been going up steadily over the last few years, and natural disasters have a lot to do with it.

This link shows what is called "disaster activations" in Queensland since 2010.

History of floods

Learn about the history of significant flood events in Queensland since the 1860s.

www.qld.gov.au

The hailstorm which hit us, and most severely a suburbs called Springfield Lakes, is shown under 2020.

Far North Queensland Low Pressure System, 15 - 26 April 2021
Southern Queensland Severe Weather, 20 – 31 March 2021
Tropical Cyclone Niran and Associated Low Pressure System, 25 February – 3 March 2021
Far North Queensland Tropical Low, 24 – 30 January 2021
Tropical Cyclone Imogen and Associated Low Pressure System, 2 – 12 January 2021
Western Queensland Thunderstorms 21-30 December 2020
South East Queensland Coastal Trough, 12-15 December 2020
Gumlow Bushfire, 21- 26 November 2020
K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) Bushfires, 9 November 2020 – 23 December 2020
South East Queensland Hailstorm, 31 October 2020
Kooralbyn Bushfire, 12 - 19 October 2020

The insurance bill from that alone was $980 million AUD.

Hailstorm - South-east Queensland, 2020 | Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub

Widespread thunderstorms affected central and south-east Queensland between 24‑29 October. Thunderstorms affected Brisbane on 24 and 25 October, and again on 27 and 28 October, bringing heavy rainfall to some sites, flash flooding and strong wind gusts.

knowledge.aidr.org.au

Within 24 hours of 31 October, the Insurance Council of Australia declared the natural disaster a catastrophe with the damage bill currently at $980 million. Insurers have received more than 42,000 claims as at 23 June 2021.