An Increase of Hail in Victoria, British Columbia

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the occurrence of hail during the winter and early spring months. Through personal observations, Victoria has experienced multiple occasions of hail throughout February and March of 2021, and even had a sudden occurrence of hail in the middle of an otherwise warm and sunny afternoon in April 2021 (see Figure 1 and 2). On one occurrence in February, within a matter of minutes an unexpected hailstorm began and covered the ground in tiny pieces of hail, and then within another few minutes it had all melted. This type of weather is very unusual for this area. While our current experiences with hail have been mild, an increase in frequency and severity is cause for concern. With the impacts of climate change dominating the current discourse on environmental studies and sustainability, observing a change in weather patterns in my local community raised some questions. While hail might not pose the same threat as other types of extreme weather events (tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis etc.), any change to a system can result in consequences at various scales. The size and the duration of the hailstorms have so far been mild, but at what point does this change in weather patterns impact the larger ecosystem and impact both the resiliency and stability of the area? Currently, there does not appear to be research on this new trend in Victoria so it is hard to say what the impacts specific to this community will be. Any change in weather patterns could impact agriculture, ecosystems, and the health and safety of inhabitants.