Fire-generated thunderstorms in Australia during summer are among recent events highlighting rising global risks from convective storms, the New York-based Insurance Information Institute says.

Large fires can create their own weather systems, causing lightning and powerful winds that increase the fire’s intensity while driving it toward new sources of fuel, the institute says in a white paper.

“Thunderstorms generated by pyrocumulonimbus clouds resulting from wildfires could be seen more often if recent wildfire trends continue,” it says.

"The fire-breathing dragon of clouds generated by the recent fires in Australia is just one example of how weather events can spawn intense fires.”

The white paper notes that Australia’s fires were barely extinguished before parts of the country were hit by thunderstorms and golf-ball sized hail.

Severe convective storms, which include tornadoes, hail, thunderstorms with lightning and straight-line winds, are among the biggest threats to life and property in the US and have a high global cost, the institute says.

“2019 was the fourth-straight year in which convective storm-caused insurance payouts topped $US20 billion ($31 billion) globally, with most of them driven by US hail and wind outbreaks,” Senior Research Analyst Jeff Dunsavage said.

Population growth and economic development have contributed to increasing losses, the white paper says. At the same time, research suggests the geography, frequency and intensity of storms may be changing.

Tornadoes killed 40 people in the US last month, the highest monthly death toll from the events since 2013, but the report says it is difficult to tell if their frequency is increasing given radar advances and the “growing ‘hobby’ of tornado chasing”.

“If tornadoes are not spotted and reported by someone, they do not officially exist, therefore improved tracking and reporting can ‘reveal’ non-existent trends,” it says.

Hailstorms in the US seem to be generating larger stones capable of inflicting greater damage and storms are no longer just in areas traditionally prone to the events, it says.

The white paper looks at ways to mitigate the risks through improved forecasting, better building standards, early damage detection and remediation, increased risk sharing with customers through deductibles and parametric offerings.

Click here to read the white paper.