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Climate science

A future Colorado without hail

Nature Climate Change volume 2, pages 78–79 (2012)Cite this article

Globally speaking, thunderstorms are small, which makes their behaviour difficult to simulate with climate models. Now research that incorporates detailed storm dynamics indicates the near-elimination of hail in future simulations for Colorado.

More frequent heatwaves, stronger hurricanes, more-intense rainstorms — all of these have been predicted as likely consequences of global warming induced by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases1. So it is surprising to see research indicating that global warming may reduce or even eliminate a natural hazard. Writing in Nature Climate Change, Mahoney and co-workers2 present an investigation into changes in hail incidence and intensity in a hailstorm hotspot — the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the United States. They find that although it is likely that the intensity of hailstorms will increase in a warmer world, the climate may warm to a level where almost all hail formed over Colorado melts before it reaches the ground.

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Figure 1: Hail-producing storm clouds.

© ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/THINKSTOCK

References

  1. IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (eds Field, C. B. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).

  2. Mahoney, K., Alexander, M. A., Thompson, G., Barsugli, J. J. & Scott, J. D. 10.1038/nclimate1344 Nature Clim. Change 2, 125–131 (2012).

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  1. Kevin Walsh is at the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia,

    Kevin Walsh

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  1. Kevin Walsh
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Correspondence to Kevin Walsh.

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Walsh, K. A future Colorado without hail. Nature Clim Change 2, 78–79 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1396

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