Hail has emerged as one of the fastest-growing contributors to property loss over the past decade, driven by evolving climate conditions, including the increasing frequency and intensity of severe convective storms. For many global companies, hail now represents a rising threat to business continuity, with losses and disruption commonly stemming from damage to roofs, facades, yard storage and roof-mounted equipment, including HVAC systems and solar panel installations.
“With hail losses rising sharply in recent years, businesses need a far more precise view of where their vulnerabilities truly lie,” said Stuart Keller, chief engineer at FM. “Our Worldwide Hail Hazard Map applies FM’s cutting-edge science and decades of engineering expertise to help clients make informed, practical decisions to protect critical assets and strengthen resilience.”
“Hailstorms are an established part of India’s severe weather profile, with repeated events affecting industrial facilities, storage and infrastructure in recent years,” said Sumit Khanna, CEO, FMIC India, Reinsurance Branch. “As asset values increase and portfolios become more complex, the Worldwide Hail Hazard Map helps organisations move from experience-based assumptions to data driven resilience planning.”
From regional insight to global coverage
Until now, FM hail hazard mapping has been limited to the United States and Australia, two regions that continue to experience some of the world’s most costly hail events. Advances in data availability and modelling capability have now enabled FM to extend this analysis globally.
The FM Worldwide Hail Hazard Map is built on more than 500,000 actual hail observations, combined with physics-based modeling, allowing FM to expand hail hazard insights to regions that were previously unmapped. This enables FM clients and the broader public to benefit from the same level of insight that has long informed loss prevention strategies in the United States and Australia.
At the core of the global hail model is a machine-learning algorithm that establishes statistical relationships between the frequency and intensity of hail on the ground and the severe convective storm environments that drive hail formation in the first place. This approach supports detailed hazard mapping at regional and global scales, even in areas with historically limited hail observations.
A depth of data that goes beyond conventional maps
The modelling framework draws on more than 500,000 ground-based hail observations collected from international sources, including storm reports and weather station data, spanning from 1955 to 2024. These observations are integrated with state-of-the-art global reanalysis and satellite datasets and combined with severe convective storm parameters developed from decades of research in the severe weather forecasting community.
Unlike many existing hail maps, which focus solely on the number of days experiencing damaging hail, FM’s Worldwide Hail Hazard Map provides insight into hailstone size and kinetic impact energy. This distinction is critical, as the impact energy is the primary driver of structural damage.
By understanding not just how often hail occurs, but how destructive it can be, FM engineers can more accurately assess risk and recommend FM Approved materials and systems appropriate for local hail conditions.
Engineering-led resilience for a changing climate
FM’s approach to natural hazard assessment is grounded in engineering and applied science. As climate-related perils grow more frequent and more severe, FM continues to invest in advanced modeling tools that help clients anticipate evolving risks and take action before losses occur.
The new capability complements FM’s broader suite of Natural Hazard Maps, available to clients via the FM client portal and publicly at FM.com.
About FM
Established nearly two centuries ago, FM is a leading mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its policyholder-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every four Fortune 500 companies. They work with FM to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity to make cost-effective risk management decisions, combining property loss prevention with insurance protection.
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