Daywatch: Climate change is producing larger hail, researchers warn

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

Good morning, Chicago.
During severe thunderstorms, rising air shoots icy pellets the size of Dippin' Dots ice cream into the bitter cold of upper atmospheric layers. There, supercooled water freezes onto the small particles to form hail, which then falls when it gets too heavy for the storm's upward draft.
As climate change warms average global temperatures, hailstones larger than pingpong or golf balls will become more frequent — likely worsening the weather hazard's already billions of dollars in annual property damage across the country, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science.
'Climate change is obviously occurring,' said Victor Gensini, a meteorologist and professor of atmospheric science at Northern Illinois University who led the study. 'The question, for scientists, is often: How does that manifest itself (in) these smaller-scale extreme weather perils?'
Insurance companies have reported rising hail damage claims from homeowners due to severe storms. In 2024, roof repair and replacement costs totaled nearly $31 billion across the country, up almost 30% from 2022, according to an April report from Verisk, a risk assessment and data analytics firm. Hail and wind accounted for more than half of all residential claims.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Adriana Pérez.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: how neighborhood ties still propel violence in a changing Cabrini-Green, the best and worst from the City Series and our guide to Lollapalooza 2025.
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The U.N. General Assembly is bringing high-level officials together this week to promote a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict that would place their peoples side by side, living in peace in independent nations.
Israel and its close ally the United States are boycotting the two-day meeting, which starts today and will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia.
The United States and the European Union agreed to a trade framework setting a 15% tariff on most goods yesterday, staving off — at least for now — far higher imports on both sides that might have sent shockwaves through economies around the globe.
Gov. JB Pritzker and his fellow Democrats have been unrelenting in their criticisms of the tax and spending plan President Donald Trump signed July 4.
But along with much-lambasted cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and education, the budget reconciliation plan Republicans pushed through Congress this summer includes a tax change that Democrats as well as some Republicans in high-tax blue states have backed for years.
Julia Tate was headed to bed a few weeks ago when her daughter burst into their rowhouse screaming. Tate's cousin, Devon LaSalle, had been shot.
The family had urged LaSalle to not come around the neighborhood so much, but he grew up in a now-closed part of the Cabrini-Green rowhouses. He still spent a lot of time there in spite of how much had changed since he was a kid on Mohawk Street.
At 41, LaSalle was one of many people who stuck around the rowhouses even as development exploded around the now-vacant lots where the infamous high-rises once stood.
The rhythmic rumble of the 'L' isn't a death rattle — yet.
But Chicago's public transit systems are set to get gut-punched early next year by a funding deficit in the hundreds of millions of dollars. If state lawmakers don't agree to allocate more money to public transit, branches on half of the CTA's 'L' lines could go silent. So many bus routes would get slashed that Chicago would have fewer of them than Kansas City. Metra trains could be spaced one or even two hours apart, depending on the day of the week.
A man accused of entering a Walmart in Michigan and randomly stabbing 11 shoppers before being detained by bystanders in the store parking lot is expected to face terrorism and multiple assault charges, authorities said yesterday.
Another intriguing City Series, along with Dick Allen's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, highlighted a fun baseball weekend for Chicago Cubs and White Sox fans.
Paul Sullivan details the best and worst from the City Series and Dick Allen's posthumous induction into the Hall.
Overshadowed by much of the hand-wringing done this offseason regarding the Bears' depth — or lack of — when it comes to pass rushers was a discussion of how the new scheme will affect the players on the roster, writes Brad Biggs.
In the early hours of July 31, 1985, Tommy Trotter thought he smelled smoke.
'I'm a light sleeper,' he told the Tribune. 'I went downstairs to check out the kitchen and it got stronger.' He could hear 'cracking' in the ceiling.
The director of racing at Arlington Park racetrack in Arlington Heights, Trotter and his wife and son were staying on the second floor of the Horseman's Lounge in the posh Post and Paddock Club. He woke up his wife, sent his son to notify security, and told the switchboard operator to call the fire department.
Imagine heading out to pick up your father's medicine at the neighborhood CVS one day, only to be stopped by four strangers who ask: 'Can I take a picture with you?'
That's was what happened to Kriston Bell, 17. When approached, the Beverly resident asked if they knew him from somewhere. Their response: 'From 'America's Got Talent.'' The admirers took pictures to share with their kids.
Lollapalooza returns to Grant Park, bringing another stellar lineup of artists that captures the current musical zeitgeist. This year's festival showcases an impressive blend of breakthrough acts and established favorites, with headliners like Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Tyler, the Creator.