Texas hailstorm losses estimated at $1bn

The hailstorm that spread across part of Texas on June 6 - with baseball sized hail reported in Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton counties - is estimated to result in insured losses close to $1 billion, according to Karen Clark & Company (KCC).

KCC’s estimates are an accumulation of the losses from damage to residential and commercial properties, along with automobiles.

The Insurance Council of Texas suggested that 20,000 residential structures and 25,000 automobiles have been damaged. Residential and commercial damage is expected to occur to roofs, windows, skylights and solar panels.

An intrusion of a maritime tropical air mass provided an ideal environment for severe convective storm (SCS) formation, according to KCC.

On the night of June 5, an isolated storm formed north of Dallas, near McKinney, TX. The storm progressed southward with the mean atmospheric winds against the surface flow. The unidirectional winds allowed the storm to split into right-moving and left-moving cells less than an hour after forming.

Generally, left-moving cells dissipate relatively quickly, and right-moving cells maintain intensity. In the case of this storm, the left-moving cell dissipated as expected, and the right moving cell brought large hail to the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” KCC said.

“The observed radar reflectivity values of over 65 dBZ indicated the potential for large hail formation, and baseball-sized hailstones were reported in Carrollton and Coppell. The storm produced destructive hail for nearly an hour and dissipated south of Arlington around 3:00am CDT on June 6.”

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