Science-industry workshop on severe convective storms

Overview

The science-industry workshop on severe convective storms was held on August 3-4 2023 at UNSW Sydney. The workshop brought together scientists and industry colleagues working on severe convective storms across disciplines. We aimed to forge deeper connections between science and industry through presentations, open discussion, identification of shared challenges, and future planning.

Topics that were presented and discussed included:

The latest understanding of severe storms in the current climate, including relationships between atmospheric conditions and storm occurrence.
The latest science on climate change effects on hailstorms, extreme winds, and extreme rainfall associated with thunderstorms.
Storm climate science in industry: information required and how that information is used.
Opportunities for exchange: unique data and knowledge that industry can provide.

The workshop was a phenomenal success - thank you to everyone who was there!

Workshop presentations that authors have agreed to share can be accessed here.
As a follow-up from the workshop we have created a new community linked-in group here. Anyone in the community may join the severe convective storms science-industry hub.

Practical information

The location was Scientia Building Gallery 1, at the UNSW Kensington Campus.

Thanks to our sponsors, lunch was provided, and a networking event was held at The Lounge, UNSW on 3 August.

Program

Download the full program with abstracts here.

Workshop starts 9.15 am

09.15 Workshop opening

        Dr. Tim Raupach
        UNSW Sydney and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

09.25 Introductory remarks

        Dr. Andy Pitman
        ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

09.30 Keynote

Dr. Julian Brimelow
Western University Canada and Northern Hail Project
Coordinated severe storm research in Canada

11.00-12.30 Thunderstorm hazards and impacts

Dr. Acacia Pepler
Bureau of Meteorology, NESP Climate Hub
Updating the climate change guidance in the AR&R Guidelines

Dr. Matthew Mason
University of Queensland
Defining loads and mitigating impacts: challenges for increasing convective storm resilience in the built environment

Jordan Brook
Bureau of Meteorology
Radar perspectives on thunderstorm dynamics and associated hazards

Dr. Alain Protat
Bureau of Meteorology
SWIRL: the first operational radar-based 3D wind analysis and nowcasting service in Australia

13.30-14.30 Thunderstorm prediction

Dean Sgarbossa
Bureau of Meteorology
Forecasting severe thunderstorms

Anthony Cornelius
Weatherwatch
The role of specialised weather services in Australia

Harald Richter
Bureau of Meteorology
Latest thunderstorm guidance and use in operations

14.30-15.00 Panel session: early career researchers in thunderstorm science

Isabelle Greco (UNSW Sydney)
Andrew Brown (University of Melbourne)
Jordan Brook (Bureau of Meteorology)
Annabel Bowden (Monash University)

Moderated by Dr. Matthew Mason (University of Queensland)

15.30-17.00 Assessing thunderstorm risk

Dr. Joanna Aldridge¹ and Dr. Tom Mortlock²
1. QBE Australia
2. Aon Australia
Hail of the century: how insurers estimate SCS risk using catastrophe models

Dr. Raktima Dey
Guy Carpenter
Thunderstorm-induced insurance losses and hail risk quantification

Dr. Salomé Hussein
Risk Frontiers
The sky is falling: modelling hail risk in Australia

Dr. Luis Ackermann¹ and Dr. Nina Ridder²
1. Bureau of Meteorology
2. Suncorp
Improving hail damage estimates using past insurance claims and radar observations

17.30-19.30 Networking event at The Lounge, UNSW Sydney
09.00-09.40 Community readiness and recovery

Steve Muncaster
Victoria State Emergency Services
Enhancing community and emergency services readiness for severe convective storms

Dr. Kat Haynes
Natural Hazards Research Australia
Severe storms – predicting impacts, understanding response and supporting adaptation

09.40-10.30 Keynote

Kylie Macfarlane
Insurance Council of Australia
Building resilience to worsening extremes

11.00-12.30 Impacts on utility services and agriculture

Narendra Tuteja
WaterNSW
Operational needs for information on hydroclimate extremes for managing flood and storage operations

Penny Joseph
Ausgrid
Codesigning climate resilience with customers

Bec Tkal
Queensland Farmers Federation
Insurance tools for managing crop & financial risk – Hailios hail plate trial

Dr. Fiacre Rougieux
UNSW Sydney
Weathering the storm: risks of hail damage to solar panels in Australia

13.30-14.30 Changing thunderstorm hazards

Dr. Tim Raupach
UNSW Sydney, CLEX
Changing hail hazard across Australia

Dr. Acacia Pepler
Bureau of Meteorology
Changing convective vs. non-convective rainfall

Andrew Brown
University of Melbourne
Progress towards future climate projections of severe thunderstorm wind gusts

14.30-15.20 Data for thunderstorm understanding

Dr. Robert Warren and Dr. Joshua Soderholm
Bureau of Meteorology
Open data for severe thunderstorm research in Australia

Dr. Caroline Poulsen
Bureau of Meteorology
Satellite observations for severe weather forecasting now and in the future

15.20-16.30 Building connections for the future

Prof. Christian Jakob
Monash University
The ARC COE for the Weather of the 21st Century

Panel discussion:

Christian Jakob (Monash University)
Jonathan Barratt (CelciusPro)
Julian Brimelow (Western University)

Workshop closes 4.30 pm