The potential for hail and intense rainfall enhancement over urban areas: improving urban extreme weather risk assessment

Urban communities and their infrastructure are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of organized thunderstorm systems. Current models of urban extreme weather risk do not fully represent the complexity of the hydrometeorological processes involved, particularly in relation to intense convective precipitation and severe weather. Hail is a severe thunderstorm hazard that can be extremely damaging to property (especially automobiles, buildings and agriculture) over and in proximity to urban environments. This study identifies some of the mechanisms that future generations of catastrophe models should consider incorporating in their representation of hydrometeorlogical hazards in urban areas. In addition, such information could help to inform planning policy and improve urban resilience to extreme events.