Relieving Hyderabad residents from the sizzling heat, several parts of the city witnessed hailstorms on Sunday.
Hailstorms accompanied by strong winds lashed eastern parts of the city like Begumpet, Secunderabad, Abids, Nampally and other adjoining areas, said IMD scientist Dr Nagaratna.
#Hailstormhyderabad
— Swati Ganesh Gharat (@swati_gharat) April 1, 2018
Hailstorm followed by rain shower cools Hyderabad in scorching heat pic.twitter.com/TqVH9ufiCB
Heavy #rains n #hailstorm in #Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/YNO0ukDinM
— dinesh akula (@dineshakula) April 1, 2018
Rains #Hyderabad #rains #hail #hailstorm pic.twitter.com/t8R1uhlurO
— Sonali (@prettyandsadtbh) April 1, 2018
Hailstorm in Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/8qfKm7MvuL
— kalva vinod (@kalvavinod) April 1, 2018
Several people took to Twitter to express their happiness at the unseasonal rain, which had cooled down temperatures.
Heavy rainfall was recorded at Secunderabad, Musheerabad and other nearby areas.
The Indian Meteorological Department had forecasted that Rangareddy, Bhongir and Hyderabad district would witness moderate to severe hailstorm and strong winds reaching 17 knots or more on Sunday.
As predicted by the weathermen, hailstorms lashed several parts of the state.
The department also issued a weather warning that thunderstorms accompanied with gusty winds were very likely to occur on Monday also.
On Saturday, hail stones fell in areas like Shaikpet, Manikonda and Hafeezpet, Tarbund and Bowenpally. Areas near Medak and Sangareddy also witnessed heavy rainfall.
In the state, Manchal in Rangareddy district recorded the highest rainfall, receiving 12.8 mm rains on Saturday, as per the IMD.
Meanwhile, the maximum temperature recorded in Hyderabad on Sunday was 37.7 degrees, and the minimum temperature recorded was 25.3 degree Celsius.
What is a hailstorm and why does it happen?
Srikanth a weather blogger at Chennayil Oru Mazhaikkaalam observed that hailstorms are normal during this time of the year. “Winds from different directions are meeting plus the day time heating creates unstable atmospheric conditions triggering thunderstorms,” he explained.
Hail is a form of precipitation that freezes drops of water in the cold upper regions of thunderstorm clouds, states National Geographic. Measuring between 5mm and 15cm in diameter, hail stones can be round or jagged.
“Hailstones are formed by layers of water attaching and freezing in a large cloud. A frozen droplet begins to fall from a cloud during a storm, but is pushed back up into the cloud by a strong updraft of wind. When the hailstone is lifted, it hits liquid water droplets. Those droplets then freeze to the hailstone, adding another layer to it. The hailstone eventually falls to Earth when it becomes too heavy to remain in the cloud, or when the updraft stops or slows down,” states National Geographic.