KCC pegs over $1bn insured losses from Texas hailstorm

Catastrophe modelling firm  Karen Clark & Company (KCC) has pegged the insured losses from the hailstorms in Texas in June at more than $1 billion.

Between June 10 to 13, a stationary frontal boundary from Texas to Georgia divided a warm, humid air mass over Texas from a cooler, drier one across the Central Plains and Midwest. This boundary is normally positioned further north.

The converging air at this boundary sparked near-daily thunderstorms, fueled by an unstable environment of hot, humid air.

These storms were stronger than average due to intense instability, producing larger updrafts that penetrated the atmosphere, allowing large hail to grow, KCC said.

The firm stated that these conditions created nearly record-breaking hailstones, measuring 5.23 inches in diameter, in Mansfield, Texas.

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