Hyderabad: Heavy hailstorms and rains lashed parts of Telangana on Thursday.
Hailstorms, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds, brought down maximum temperature providing relief to people from the first spell of summer.
Parts of Vikarabad, Rangareddy and Sangareddy districts witnessed heavy rains and hailstorms. The hailstorm at a few places including Zaheerabad town continued for about half an hour, disrupting movement of vehicles. Drivers were forced to park their vehicles by the roadside.
Marpalle village in Vikarabad district also witnessed heavy hailstorm. A white sheet of hailstones covered roads and fields presenting unusual but picturesque scenes.
People were seen taking pictures and videos on their mobile phones. Some people shared the footage on social media. Some netizens commented that they mistook it for Kashmir.
Crops like sugarcane, jowar and vegetables were damaged in some parts of the affected districts. There are reports of damage to paddy crops in districts like Siddipet and Medak.
In Hyderabad, the change of weather in the afternoon with dark clouds surprised people. Several parts of the city and outskirts received heavy rains accompanied by lightning and chilly breeze. The downpour led to water accumulation in some areas, affecting the vehicular traffic.
The met department has attributed the hailstorms and thunderstorms to southeasterly winds under the impact of the trough from Bangladesh & neighborhood to north coastal Andhra Pradesh and another trough from south Tamil Nadu to north Konkan.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert 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 with lightning, gusty winds are very likely to occur at isolated places in the remaining districts of Telangana.
For March 18, the met department 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.
–IANS