Brisbane residents can expect to seek cover from hailstorms more often as climate change warms the atmosphere.
A new study from UNSW Sydney’s Institute for Climate Risk and Response points to climate change causing hailstorms to become more damaging and mor frequent in some Australian cities.
Dr Tim Raupach said an analysis of weather simulations in a warmer world showed an increase in hail size over some capital cities, including Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.
“Our projections also show hailstorms becoming more frequent in Brisbane, Sydney, and Canberra,” Dr Raupach said.
He said hailstorms were responsible for more than 20 percent of insured losses in Australia from 1967 to 2023.
“The damage is largely driven by the size of hailstones and the stones can get big.
“Australia’s record near Mackay, Queensland was around 16 cm across, more than double the diameter of a cricket ball.”
Dr Raupach said more intense storms in the future could increase the chances of large-diameter hail.
“We looked at changes in hailstone size between simulations of historical and future periods,” he says.
“And we can see increases in hail size produced by the model around Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.”
Read the full study: Changes in Hail Damage Potential in Major Australian Cities With Global Warming
