Hail damage has exploded

From 2023 to 2025, severe thunderstorm losses exceeded $50 billion annually nationwide, more than double losses from a decade earlier. Hail caused 60 to 80 percent of that damage.

Colorado faces a hail crisis

In Colorado, hail, not wildfire, is the main driver of rising insurance premiums. A record hailstone measuring over 5 inches fell in Yuma County in 2023, and the state logged 176 reports of hail 2 inches or larger that year, nearly double the previous record.

Scientists slice hailstones like trees

Researcher Anthony Bernal Ayala at NCAR in Boulder uses a band saw to cut hailstones and reveal layers of icy growth. Clear layers show slow freezing, while cloudy layers indicate rapid freezing that trapped air bubbles.

“All that information can tell you a wonderful story of how the hailstone was growing, but nobody, not until now, was able to tap into that history.”

ICECHIP launches historic study

ICECHIP, the In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains, received $11 million from the National Science Foundation in 2024. It's the first major US hail field campaign in over 40 years.

100 scientists chase storms

For six weeks in spring 2025, about 100 scientists and students chased hailstorms across the Central Plains and Front Range using radar trucks, drones, high-speed cameras, and specialized sensors to measure hail size, strength, and distribution.

Balloons probe storm clouds

Australian meteorologists released golf ball-sized sensors into storms using balloons. Each probe collected data on wind speed and ice growth, with microphones recording water droplets and hailstones striking the sensors.

NCAR is the beating heart

ICECHIP samples were brought to NCAR in Boulder, a world-renowned hub for weather research. The lab has studied hail for decades and has no equivalent in the US. Researchers say the backup plan was using a fast-food freezer.

“I can't even quantify the impact that it would have to our community if we lost NCAR. They are the beating heart.”

NCAR's future is uncertain

In late 2025, the Trump administration said it would dissolve NCAR and transfer its work out of state. UCAR, which manages NCAR, sued in March, alleging the administration was targeting the center over Colorado's mail-in voting and the governor's handling of an election denier.

Climate change will make hail worse

Warmer temperatures could melt smaller hailstones before they land, but stronger updrafts will keep larger stones airborne longer, allowing them to grow bigger. This means the most damaging hail will become more common.

“It's going to just keep getting costlier and costlier.”

Development creates bigger targets

The Fort Collins metro area population doubled since 1990 to around 375,000 residents. This boom along Colorado's Interstate 25 corridor has created what scientists call the expanding bull's-eye effect, where more expensive property sits in hail hotspots.

“Colorado is the poster child for what I expect the next 25 years to look like for hail.”

Fort Collins requires hail-resistant roofs

In 2019, Fort Collins became one of the first cities to require impact-resistant shingles for new builds and remodels. The requirement followed a catastrophic 2018 hailstorm that sent massive amounts of roofing materials to the landfill.

States offer resilience grants

A growing number of Front Range communities now require impact-resistant shingles in building codes. Colorado legislators recently passed a law offering grants to residents who install more resilient roofing materials.

Better materials could cut losses

ICECHIP researchers are investigating how to improve building materials as billion-dollar losses from single storms become routine. Scientists are working to get impact-resistant materials onto roofs and businesses to reduce damage.

“The dollars are simply piling up so fast. We're still trying to understand how do we get the best materials onto roofs, onto people's homes, onto businesses to actually start shaving off these losses.”