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The Costliest Disaster In Australian History
Not a fire, typhoon, or flood
Australia periodically makes the news for some gnarly weather events. The continent is vulnerable to typhoons, widespread flooding, and massive wildfires. Australia was home to some of the strongest wind speeds ever recorded, thanks to powerful offshore storms. So it comes as a massive shock that the costliest disaster in Australian history is not a typhoon or flood, or bushfire. It was a hailstorm.
The 1999 Sydney Hailstorm
On April 14th, 1999, a powerful afternoon thunderstorm developed south of Sydney. The weather system quickly ballooned into a monstrous supercell that produced a powerful severe thunderstorm. Normally, thunderstorms do not cause extensive damage, but this storm was different.
At first, meteorologists did not believe that the atmosphere was conductive to supporting the development of a severe thunderstorm. But the storm did develop, and it quickly grew in size and strength. The storm was labeled severe with warnings of hail up to 0.8 inches and winds exceeding 56mph.
The supercell was so large that it stretched for tens of thousands of feet into the air. The powerful drafts combined with the towering height of the clouds created a large amount of hail. Hail is not an uncommon…
