Rain Accompanied By Ice Grains Occur In Pagaralam City, This Is An Explanation Of Meteorological Statistics Analysis And Forecasts

Ice flakes pouring down heavily in Pagaralam City, Thursday, April 15 (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The city of Pagar Alam, South Sumatra, was hit by heavy rain accompanied by ice grains the size of a marble on Thursday, April 15 afternoon, which caused no damage or casualties.

The hail was conveyed by an Instagram account @palembanginsta, hail accompanied by strong winds occurred in the Mount Dempo area at around 16.00 western Indonesia time.

Head of the Meteorological Station Analysis and Forecast Unit at SMB II Palembang, Sinta Andayani, confirmed this natural phenomenon because radar images also detected sufficient clouds in the Pagaralam area.

"Hail can occur because the cumulonimbus (rain cloud) actually consists of ice grains, which is water at the freezing level," he said when confirmed.

According to Sinta, the hail occurred because currently, the South Sumatra region was experiencing a transition season which caused many cumulonimbus clouds.

In the cloud, there is a strong wind movement so that in the downdraft process, the ice grains have not fully melted or are still in the form of grains when they reach the ground surface.

In theory, hail can occur throughout the South Sumatra region, but it is more common in Pagaralam City and Lahat Regency because the air temperature is relatively lower there.

"The temperature there is still not warm enough for the ice to melt when it reaches the ground," he added.

He advised the public to be aware of the potential for hail because several regions of Indonesia have also been hit by hail and strong winds in the last few days.