A Summary of Hail Events during the Summer of 2022 in Catalonia: A Comparison with the Period of 2013–2021

Abstract

Hail events are common in Catalonia during the warm season (May to September), but especially between June and August. These cases produce important damages to agriculture and infrastructure. The campaign of 2022 will be remembered by three different phases: the first and last phases, which were very stable and with few events, and the middle phase, which had a large number of episodes. Some of the cases had an important social impact because of the large areas affected or the economical damages. The present analysis used the vertically integrated liquid radar product for estimating the hail swaths. Hail swaths are classified according to different parameters, allowing for the characterization of the campaign and a comparison with the period of 2013–2021. The results show how the month of June had a deficit of cases with respect to the reference period (half of the cases), July presented similar values, and August had a positive anomaly, with five times more cases. In addition, the first ever case of giant hail in Catalonia occurred in August 2022, a month with more than five times the number of cases of severe and very large hail with respect to the average of the period of 2013–2021.