The Hindu : Front Page : ‘Hailstorm’ in Chennai takes many by surprise

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Friday, Sep 28, 2007
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‘Hailstorm’ in Chennai takes many by surprise

T. Ramakrishnan and Vani Doraisamy

— Photo: K. Pichumani

inexplicable: The Meteorological department did not record a hailstorm.

CHENNAI: Chennai was in for a mid-afternoon surprise on Thursday when a sudden hailstorm, combined with sleet, descended on certain parts of the city.

The hailstorm, lasting a few minutes, was witnessed by people on the arterial Anna Salai, Cathedral Road and Kodambakkam High Road and in Triplicane and Mylapore.

However, the Meteorological department said the observatory in Nungambakkam did not record a hailstorm. “We have recorded 7.5 mm rainfall [between 2-30 p.m. and 5-30 p.m.],” S. R. Ramanan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said.

An official in the climatology section said that Chennai had never recorded a hailstorm. Y.E. A. Raj, another director, said thunderstorms which could support large hailstones were called hailstorms.

It caused chaos on the roads, especially on Anna Salai. For road users, the darkening clouds a little after 3 p.m. should have provided enough warning, but most of them were quite unprepared for the small pellets of ice that rained down, accompanied by short, sharp gusts of wind.

The roads emptied of all two-wheeler traffic except four wheelers and autos. “Even my helmet offered no protection as I could barely see for more than a few yards,” Sivalingam, a two-wheeler rider caught in the downpour, said.

The roads were a telling picture after the skies cleared, with twigs and broken flag posts and festoons. For a few, however, the hailstorm was a moment of enjoyment.

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