Hailstorms That Produce Very Large Hail: Which Are the Differences with Other Thunderstorms?

Hail events commonly affect the Western part of Catalonia, producing important damages mainly in Agriculture sector. The comparison of the weather radar data with the hail-pad registers at ground level allows to improve the diagnosis of hail in thunderstorms and to estimate the maximum hail size. However, there are some limitations using individual radar fields (such as the maximum reflectivity, the echo top or the density of the vertically integrated liquid). The current research has been conducted using quantiles of the vertical profiles of reflectivity for different times before, during and after the hailfall. First, it has been shown that these profiles relate to all the radar parameters. Second, it has been demonstrated that are less sensitive to anomalies of the radar functioning. The final purpose of the project is to develop a real-time tool that improves the surveillance task to discriminate between non-hail and hail thunderstorms and severe and non-severe hail occurrence.