Abstract
The response of hailstorm intensity to climate variability/change has become a topic of community interest recently. But the lack of persistent and homogenous observations makes it difficult to confidently describe its interannual variations. Hail size, as a common indicator of hailstorm intensity, displays distinct regional variability. Here, for the first time, we show robust evidence of a decrease in hail size using continuous and coherent hail size records from 2,254 manned stations in China since 1980. The stations were categorized based on their elevation: plateaus (above 2000 m), foothills (between 500 and 2000 m), and plains (below 500 m). Compared with 1980–1997, the hail size spectra from 1998 to 2015 all shifted toward smaller sizes significantly in plateaus, foothills, and plains. The proportion of overall hail events with maximum sizes of at least 5 and 20 mm significantly decreased since 1980. Meanwhile, the annual mean size of hail above 10 and 20 mm significantly decreased during the research period, especially after 1990. These changes in the hail size spectra may imply a weakened intensity of hailstorms in China in recent decades.
Highlights
Variations in hailstorm intensity, have become a controversial topic within the severe weather community in recent years, in addition to the study of hail occurrence changes in different parts of the world[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Among various hail observation approaches around the globe, hail size records are documented for different hail ranges, and associated with temporal variations in the recording method and natural variability
This study revealed a significant decrease in surface hail size at Chinese weather stations at different elevations over a 36-year period
Summary
Xiang Ni 1,2, Qinghong Zhang[1], Chuntao Liu[2], Xiaofei Li1, Tian Zou[1], Jipei Lin[1], Hoiio Kong1 & Zhihua Ren[3]. The annual mean size of hail above 10 and 20 mm significantly decreased during the research period, especially after 1990 These changes in the hail size spectra may imply a weakened intensity of hailstorms in China in recent decades. The maximum hail size during each hailstorm has been measured or estimated visually by professionally trained meteorological spotters since the 1950s and has become a routine observation at most manned weather stations in China since 1980 These hail size records are archived at the China Meteorological Administration[16]. Occurs on the Tibetan Plateau[18], raising the question as to whether the trends seen for lower elevations are seen for this region These manual hail size observations at stations nationwide have been digitized and released after quality control (see data section). The analyses of these data would provide more details of hail size changes in China than Xie’s work and the results can help to the understanding of how hail intensity response to climate variability/changes in China
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