(The Center Square) – A group of researchers from Northern Illinois University are planning to get up close and personal with thunderstorms in the Great Plains this spring to study the effects of hail.
The National Science Foundation-backed field study will take the researchers to Texas, Oklahoma and possibly Illinois in search of hail storms. The project will include around 100 researchers, including NIU students, who are planning fieldwork this coming May and June.
“Our goal is to make a pretty big generational leap forward in our understanding of hail, how it forms, hail size and hail forecasting,” said NIU Atmospheric Science professor Victor Gensini, who is leading the study.
The technology to be used in the field over the course of six weeks include drones, weather balloons and hail-impact devices for distinguishing hail sizes.
Gensini said hail has produced losses exceeding $10 billion per year over the past 14 years, and an unexpected hailstorm in 2016 caused $46 million in damage to aircraft at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.