We urge the public to remain alert to the likelihood of extreme weather and its impacts, such as hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that extreme weather, such as hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes, could still occur until March-April due to the season transition.

"We urge the public to remain alert to the likelihood of extreme weather and its impacts, such as hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes," Deputy for Meteorology at BMKG Guswanto noted in a statement here, Tuesday.

Extreme weather in the form of hail has occurred in the past week in several areas, such as Surabaya, Lampung, and Bekasi. The phenomenon was accompanied by heavy rains in a short duration of time accompanied by lightning and strong winds.


Related news: South Sumatra to experience cloudy weather, rain: BMKG

The hail phenomenon is one of the extreme weather phenomena that occurs on a local scale and is distinguished by droplets of ice that fall from the clouds and can occur within a period of several minutes.

The phenomenon of hail can occur since it is being triggered by the presence of convective patterns in the atmosphere on a significant local and regional scale.

Hail can be formed from a Cumulonimbus (CB) cloud, generally with high dimensions, which indicates there is significant air lability in the cloud system, so that it can form ice grains in clouds with a certain size.

Related news: BMKG urges Banten govt to strengthen disaster preparedness

The large dimensions of the ice grains and the strong flow of air within the CB cloud, or called the downdraft, can cause ice grains of a fairly large size formed at the top of CB cloud to fall to the ground and result in a hail phenomenon.

The significant downdraft speed of CB clouds can cause ice grains originating from the cloud to not quickly melt in the air. Even when they fall to the earth's surface, they are still in the form of ice grains known as hail phenomena, Guswanto noted.


Related news: Hail in East Java caused by air mass convection: BMKG

Related news: Jakarta remains at level 3 PPKM with less COVID-19 testing

Translator: Desi Purnamawati, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2022