An Analysis of Severe Hail Swaths in the Southern Plains of the United States

Severe hail is a common event in the Southern Plains of the United States. However, few studies have been conducted to quantitatively answer the question: how much hail occurs at any given location? Given the coverage of WSR-88D radars over the Southern Plains and recent technological advancements including hail detection algorithms, a compilation of severe hail swaths was completed for the period spanning 2001-2003 using data from 15 radar sites across 8 states.