Temporal and Spatial Distributions of Damaging Hail in the Continental United States

Insurance data for hail damages to property during the period 1949-2006 were assessed to define the spatial and temporal distributions of losses in the United States. There were 876 hail events, each causing more than $1 million in losses, and the average loss was $56 million per event. The nation's annual average property losses due to hail was $852 million and greatly exceeded existing estimates of hail losses. Hail losses typically occurred within 1 state, and were most common in the High Plains where hailstorms are most frequent. When hail losses occurred with tornadoes, they were most frequent in the South and Midwest. The temporal distribution of hail losses had a flat linear trend during 1949-2006. In cases when damaging hail occurred with floods, the losses increased from 1949 to 2006, an outcome resulting from increasing floods incidences.