2016 hail season one of the most severe in Texas history, with nearly US$700 million in estimated losses: CoreLogic

The 2016 hail season in Texas is already one of the most severe in the state’s history, with year-to-date results reaching the nine-year average for hail storm damage in the United States, according to CoreLogic, Inc., a global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider.

CoreLogic said that estimated losses in Fort Worth, Plano, Wylie and San Antonio totalled US$689.6 million. The San Antonio hail event on April 12 affected 263,440 properties and resulted in losses of US$334.5 million, while the Wylie hail event on April 11 affected 310,088 properties, resulting in losses of US$246.8 million. The Fort Worth hail event on March 17 and the Plano hail event were smaller in scale, with the former affecting 236,452 properties, with an estimated loss of US$72.5 million and the latter, on March 23, affecting 102,674 properties, with an estimated loss of US$35.8 million.

Regarding the San Antonio event, background information from CoreLogic showed that the majority of homes (21.36%) were impacted by hail of .75 inches, leading to an estimated US$10.8 million in residential losses. Hail over three inches in size impacted 4,569 homes, with combined residential losses reaching upwards of US$36.6 million.

“The timing could not have been worse for the greater San Antonio metro, and the storm proved to be a menace to those in its path over the course of the next hour,” the information stated. “The supercell struck first in the Helotes community, where it dumped hail larger than baseballs, then continued slowly across the northern half of San Antonio, damaging property at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the North Star Mall, and auto dealerships near the San Antonio airport along the way.”

It then continued eastward across Alamo Heights and Fort Sam Houston, consistently pounding communities with hail ranging in size from golf balls to grapefruits. “This highly destructive storm came just a day after the devastating hail event in north Texas, and less than a month from two other, similarly impactful events in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.”

Related: Third Texas hail storm in less than a month could push state’s year-to-date damage beyond nine-year average for U.S.: A.M. Best

The day before the San Antonio event, on April 12, a lone supercell thunderstorm erupted near the north-central Texas town of Scotland, before entering the city of Denton, where hail up to four inches in diameter was reported. The information from CoreLogic said that 17.31% of homes were impacted by hail of 1.5 inches, leading to an estimated US$18.5 million in residential losses. Hail over three inches affected 7,188 homes, with combined residential losses reaching upwards of US$57.5 million.

“Cities including Frisco, Plano and Wylie were especially hard hit,” CoreLogic reported. “Here, shredded siding, shattered windows, punctured roofs were the norm after baseball to grapefruit-sized hail pummelled the area, leaving as many as 80% of homes damaged.This was the third high-impact hail event to occur in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in less than a month (March 17, Fort Worth, and March 23, Plano/Sachse), virtually ensuring that the spring of 2016 will be especially memorable for north Texas property owners, as well as the insurance and building industry.”

More information on the Texas hail storms is available at https://corelogic.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=d7320240a7cd4a73b91be7a0de82aba3.