A hail climatology of the greater Sydney area and New South Wales, Australia

摘要

The first in-depth hail climatology for the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, based on reports of hailstones from 1791 to 2003, is described. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's severe weather database is extended with a detailed compilation of scientific and newspaper accounts of hail fall for the greater Sydney area for the period 1805 to 1998. Owing to its high exposure to thunderstorm and hail by virtue of population and building density, the greater Sydney area is the focus of the database. Comparisons are drawn between Sydney and the rest of NSW, and between coastal and inland areas of the state. Over the study period, a total of 1570 thunderstorms produced hail. On average, 10 hailstorms per year were recorded in Sydney in the last 50 years. However, there is a statistically significant decrease in the hailstorm frequency during the last 14