Hailstorm in Limbang panics many

MIRI: Hailstorm hits downtown Limbang late Tuesday afternoon, causing many to panic as it was the first of such phenomenon to hit here in so many decades.

An eye-witness who only wanted to be known as Alysia said the hailstorm started at 4pm as she was about to go home after purchasing groceries at a mini market.

“I was inside the car, and at first I heard a loud sound like stones hitting the roof of my car, and on looking outside, I saw something like ice balls scattered on the road. It was also raining heavily at the time,” she said.

Alysia, 39, said fearing the hailstones might cause havoc including shattering the windscreen of her car, she ran back to the market for shelter

She said it was her first experience seeing hailstones in Limbang, although she had seen and read about similar phenomenon through social media and the news on televisions.

No report of injuries or damage to property was reported during the incident.

A quick search in the internet of similar incidents in Malaysia shows that hailstorm is rare but not uncommon in the country.

In Sarawak, similar incident was reported on August 12 last year in Kuching and Samarahan. Eye-witnesses said the hailstones varied in sizes — some were as big as golf balls, others no larger than a marble.

Hailstorm is said to be a consequence of thunderstorms and is a natural phenomenon but not related to extreme weather conditions.

Hailstorm is formed because of precipitation that occurs at the beginning of a thunderstorm. When raindrops pass through a belt of cold air, they freeze into small balls of ice and most of them either melted or disintegrated in the storms before reaching the ground.

However, history shows that hailstones can kill as can be seen in reports of eight deadliest hailstorms in history reported in America, France, India, Bangladesh and China. Topping the list was that reported by History.com,

It reported that 'during the Hundred Years War, a hailstorm devastated the English army during an invasion of France'.

The death toll from the storm was estimated at around 1,000 soldiers. That day (April 13, 1360), has since been known as 'Black Monday'.