Canberra hailstorm: Largest and most dense hailstones since 1999, more than 37,000 claims made

The size and density of the hailstones in the January 20 storm were the worst to hit an urban area since the 1999 Sydney hailstorm, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

"This is hail damage at a scale we haven't seen for quite a while, at least since 1999, the hail that hit parts of Canberra was very very dense and very large," Insurance Council of Australia head of risk and operation Karl Sullivan said.

The storm cell which moved through the ACT on January 20 also hit parts of NSW and Victoria, and created $638 million worth of damage in its wake.

Altogether, there have been 69,850 claims made in relation to the hailstorm, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. Of those, 53 per cent were from the ACT.

Canberrans were again on edge on Tuesday as the Bureau of Meteorology had forecast the possibility of a severe storm, with a chance of hail, in the late afternoon or evening.

Many rushed to move their cars undercover in preparation for the potential storm, this included several car dealerships.

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Others created makeshift hail protectors out of foam and cardboard boxes.

A severe thunderstorm warning was briefly issued in the evening, however the poor weather conditions soon passed without serious incident.

Insurance companies have begun making their way through the backlog of damaged cars from the January hailstorm. The Insurance Australia Group has assessed more than 40 per cent of its claims.

IAG brands include NRMA Insurance, CGU and Swann.

"The January hailstorm was severe, leaving a trail of damage across Canberra and it was certainly one of the worst we have seen in the state in decades," IAG executive manager of motor assessing David Wilkes said.

"We've established two specialist hail repair centres in Canberra with experts assessing up to 400 vehicles per day.

"We are on-track to have remaining vehicles triaged by mid-March with repairs also currently under way."

Mr Wilkes said more than 1400 IAG-insured vehicles had been written off.

The Insurance Council of Australia said although hailstones were some of the largest seen since the Sydney 1999 storm, the damage bill for the ACT was not as high as other storms in the harbour city due to the fact the territory is not as populated.

The damage from the 1999 Sydney hailstorm totalled $1.7 billion, but taking inflation into account the bill would be around $5 billion if the event happened today. A December 2018 hailstorm that hit Sydney totalled $1.26 billion.

Damage was reported across Canberra in the January storm, with Acton, Kingston, Fyshwick and suburbs in West Belconnen among the hardest hit.

More than 80 buildings sustained damage at the Australian National University. The Shine Dome, which houses the Australian Academy of Science, was also pummelled with hailstones that left noticeable dents across its facade.