Golf balls, tennis balls, softballs. All sound like the stuff of fun games — except when they are used to describe the size of the hailstones that often accompany severe thunderstorms.
Those hailstones can cause significant damage to homes and cars, a growing worry as warming temperatures fuel more destructive storms. In March, baseball-size hail, sometimes called “gorilla hail” because of its heft, was reported in Kansas and Missouri.
The insurance industry reported $60 billion in losses from “severe convective storms” — a catchall name for thunderstorms that may spawn hail, heavy rain, lightning, high winds and tornadoes — last year, said Mark Friedlander, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group. In 2022, the industry reported $31 billion in losses.
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center shows 5,879 reports of hailstones of 1 inch or larger in 2022, up 17% from 5,020 in 2021. Preliminary data for 2023 shows 6,962 reports, including a significant increase in reports of very large hailstones of 2 inches or more.
A weather expert countered that it was unclear whether severe hail had significantly increased in the United States over the long term. Harold Brooks, senior research scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory, which is also part of NOAA, said the storm prediction center’s hail data should be viewed with caution.
Reports, for instance, can be submitted by volunteer spotters whose training may vary. (Typically, people reporting hail are asked to compare it to the size of a ball or coin, which is then translated into a measurement in inches.) Also, the criteria for severe hail were changed in 2010, making historical comparisons challenging.
Still, insurers are reporting bigger hail losses. In 2023, State Farm paid 27,300 claims for hail damage to homes and businesses, up from 23,200 in 2022, said Heather Paul, a company spokesperson. Payouts totaled $6.1 billion last year, more than the previous two years combined.
“We’re seeing severe weather increase,” Paul said.
In addition, inflation is driving up the cost of materials and labor to repair the damage, increasing insurers’ liability. More development in areas affected by severe storms is also a factor. State Farm’s average homeowner hail claim last year was about $17,000, up from $16,000 in 2022, Paul said.
c.2024 The New York Times Company. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
