A radar‐based study of severe hail outbreaks over the contiguous United States for 2000–2011

A radar‐based hail climatology, with broad coverage and high resolution, is possible using the Next‐Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Reanalysis through application of the multiradar multisensor (MRMS) algorithm and maximum expected size of hail (MESH). Using 12 years of MESH data, we define a “severe hail outbreak day” and analyse the characteristics and frequency of severe hail and severe hail outbreaks, including an analysis of hail swaths....