Insurers are raising rates. State officials are pressing back. And scientists say that researching this “underappreciated peril” is critical.By Susan CosierFor 40 days this summer, Illinois atmospheric scientist Victor Gensini and roughly 100 other specialists and students traveled the Great Plains chasing storms. More specifically, they investigated severe convective storms, the weather events that cause tornadoes and thunderheads. But their true quarry was something more elusive: hail.

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