Heavy hail storms and rains lashed parts of Telangana on Thursday, March 16. Hail storms, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds, brought down the maximum temperature, providing relief to people from the first spell of summer. Parts of Vikarabad, Rangareddy, and Sangareddy districts witnessed heavy rains and hailstorms. A few places including Zaheerabad town saw hail for about half an hour, disrupting movement of vehicles. Drivers were forced to park their vehicles by the roadside till the storm dissipated.
Marpalle village in Vikarabad district also witnessed heavy hail storms. A white sheet of hailstones covered roads and fields. Crops like sugarcane, jowar and vegetables were damaged in some parts of the affected districts. Paddy crops were also reportedly damaged in Siddipet and Medak districts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has attributed the hail storms and thunderstorms to southeasterly winds under the impact of the trough from Bangladesh and neighbourhood to north coastal Andhra Pradesh, and another trough from south Tamil Nadu to north Konkan.
The IMD has issued a yellow warning for several districts of Telangana for next three days. Thunder showers are very likely to occur at many places over Telangana from March 17 to March 19.
On March 17, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, hailstorm and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph are very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts Nizamabad, Jagityal, Rajanna Sircilla, Nalgonda, Mahabubabad, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvangiri, Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Medchal Malkajigiri, Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy and Nagarkurnool. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds are very likely to occur at isolated places in the remaining districts of Telangana.
For March 18, the IMD has forecast heavy rains at isolated places in the districts Jagityal, Rajanna Sirsilla, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Warangal, Janagaon, Yadadri Bhuvangiri, Vikarabad and Nagarkurnool