Who would have thought of a snowfall in Andhra Pradesh? The villagers in three mandals of Rangareddy district witnessed miracle of their lives when they received heavy hailstorm on in January 2013, making it look like a snowfall. With Hyderabad
A woman carries her child wrapped in a shawl on a cold morning in Hyderabad. With this weather, we can't rule the possibility of a hailstorm attack repeat!
A woman sweeps on a foggy morning in Hyderabad recently. The minimum temperature recorded in Adilabad was 8ºC, Medak 9ºC, Ramagundam 10ºC and Nizamabad 12ºC.
A general view of Hyderabad covered in fog in November. The city will experience fog or mist all through the season during early mornings, said the Meteorological Department website.
With Hyderabad recording low temperatures between 11°C and 12°C in recently, the meteorological officials said the temperature could further dip to 8°C by the end of December. Photo shows the historical Charminar on a foggy morning in November this
What's the difference between hail
Vast areas of crops were also battered with snow carpeting huge tracts of fields - File photo
Dead bodies of animals seen after hailstorm attack in Rangareddy district - File photo
Pandu, another villager, added, “It was night, so we were safe but if it was in the morning, we would all have been dead. All the goats are dead and there is so much loss.” Scientists then said that global warming could also be a contributing factor
J. Veeresham, a farmer in Kummera in Chevella mandal said, “There was light rainfall and severe hailstorm and it lasted only for 15 minutes. The ice was one-foot thick everywhere." - File photo
Locals said that the hailstorm came along with violent lightning and thunder at around 8.30 pm in the evening but only lasted for around 15 minutes - File photo
Extremely large hailstones, never witnessed before, were seen scattered all over - File photo
Dr K. Sitarama, director, Meteorological Centre, Hyderabad, explained then, “The air temperature has to be zero, only then can snow be precipitated. It mainly depends on the processes in the cloud and temperature." - File photo
Even the trees were leafless as the hailstorm had stripped them bare. Children cheerfully visit the site covered with ice - File photo
Roads and fields were completely covered with small pieces of hail and many people came over to see the unprecedented sight. Schools brought children and the little ones could not control their excitement - File photo
Curious children inspect the hailstones in a village. The entire area resembled a valley in Kashmir in midwinter on January 30 morning - File photo
These villages are located at around 50 kilometres away from Hyderabad. With temperatures fall sharply, can you imagine this happening in Hyderabad this winter?
Look at the size of hailstones that came down flying! There were unconfirmed reports that about nine people had died and many had been injured in the hailstorm. Roofs were broken, houses hit and there was lot of damage to property - File photo
It was an unbelievable experience for people living in seven villages in Chevella, Moinabad and Shankarpally as hailstones, some as large as boulders, started falling from the sky January 29 night. This file photo shows people cleaning their yards
When the violent bout of hailstorm took place earlier this year, a thick fog enveloped the villages of Rangareddy district and the visibility was almost negligible - File photo