Severe aberration: IMD

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Director Dr B N Goswami said that the severe winter in the US could be responsible.

The India Meteorological Department says the hailstorms that affected Maharashtra and many parts of the country are a “rare phenomenon” and a “severe aberration”. “We have not come across such activity for a long time now. We have to assess whether such phenomenon occurred in the past 100 years. We are studying the data,” said IMD Director General L S Rathore.

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have destroyed crops in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh this year. Maharashtra is the worst hit.

“This time the westerlies came in the far south direction and were more intense, with waves covering central parts of the country. Along with this, we had moisture-laden winds, which triggered instability in the environment and thus hail formation,’’ said Rathore.

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Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Director Dr B N Goswami said that the severe winter in the US could be responsible. The cold northern hemisphere has brought in cold and dry winds, spurring thunderstorm activity.

Hail is caused when raindrops are lifted up into the atmosphere during a thunderstorm and super cooled by the adjoining temperature to turn them into thick balls of ice. The hail which falls with a high velocity destroys crops.

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