Climatic Characteristics of Hail Disaster and Division of Defense Region in Guizhou Province

[Objective] The aim was to study the climatic characteristics of hail disaster from 1984 to 2006 in Guizhou Province,China.[Method] Through statistical analysis,the climatic characteristics and disaster characteristics of hail from 1984 to 2006 in Guizhou Province were annalyzed and compared with previous results,then the classification standards of hail disaster were established,finally the defense zoning map of hail disaster in Guizhou Province was made.[Result] According to the statistical analysis on the historical data of hail disaster from 1984 to 2006,the frequency hail was 1 243 times in Guizhou in 23 years,that is,annual average frequency reached 54 times;annual average hailing days were 0.1-2.7 d in Guizhou Province,and the average frequency of hail was 3.8 times during each hail process;the frequency of hail was below 30 times in 52% of years and 30-80 times in 35% of years among 23 years.Hail could appear in the whole year,and 74% of hails occurred in spring,while winter had the fewest times.The results above were basically consistent with those of previous studies.Hail disaster mainly resulted in casualties and direct economic loss,and was divided into four grades according to direct economic loss,namely Grade I(extremely severe hail disaster),Grade II(severe hail disaster),Grade III(comparatively severe hail disaster) and Grade IV(medium hail disaster).The defense zoning map of hail disaster in Guizhou Province was made based on the frequency of hail and severe hail disaster,that is,the defense region at Grade I mainly distributed in Liupanshui City(in western Guizhou) and southern Guizhou;the defense region at Grade II was in the west,south and northeast of Guizhou Province,while the rest was at Grade III.[Conclusion] The study was of reference value for the defense of hail disaster in Guizhou Province.