Rain and hailstorm turn Noida into a ‘hill station’

The evening hailstorm took residents by surprise as it turned the city’s landscape into that of a hill station. People came out on to roads to see the unusual phenomenon and take photographs.

Pleasantly surprising weather conditions were seen in Noida on Thursday, starting with heavy rain early in the morning and hailstorm in the evening, turning roads white. The temperature, however, remained higher than normal.

Hailstorm at Sector 37 along the Noida Expressway on Thursday, Feb 7, 2019. (HT Photo)

The evening hailstorm took residents by surprise as it turned the city’s landscape into that of a hill station. Roads, parks and other open spaces were covered with hailstorm. People came out on to roads to see the unusual phenomenon and take photographs. The hailstorm that started around 6pm was followed by rainfall for over two hours till around 8pm.

“It was a pleasant to see the hailstorm slowly turn the entire road white. It appeared as if we were in Shimla. While everyone enjoyed the scene and people came out to take selfies, we hope that this unusual weather conditions is not an indication of deteriorating environmental condition,” Vishnu Saini, a resident of Sector 137, said.

Sector 137, 138, 91, 93A and other sectors near the Noida Greater Noida expressway were among the first areas from where hailstorm was reported. The second spell of hailstorm, about an hour later, was seen almost across the city, including Sectors 62, 63, 35, 37, 71, 75, 76, 77, 121, 122 and 123, among others.

Hailstorm hit parts of Noida on Thursday evening. (HT Photo )

Traffic was also affected due to the hailstorm in the evening. Several commuters stopped along roadsides under the shade of trees and foot over bridges, and inside underpasses to protect the windshields of vehicles.

Congestion was seen at the Noida-greater Noida expressway leading up to Sector 16, 18 and Film City areas.

Heavy traffic was seen around Sector 137 after minor accidents near Advant tower and a tree falling on the expressway blocked the Panchsheel underpass on both sides of the expressway.

Major traffic congestion was also seen around Sector 71, 75, Baba Balaknath Mandir, Noida City Centre intersections, Parthala Chowk and Gaur Chowk.

A view of Grand Omaxe society after hailstorm in parts of Noida on Thursday evening. (HT Photo )

NCR cities also woke up to early morning rainfall that lasted about an hour on Thursday morning.

Although the day remained cloudy with little sunlight, the temperature was high. The maximum temperature on Thursday was 25.1 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was 15 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal around this time of the year.

The rainfall in Gautam Budh Nagar for the period from February 1 to 7 was 65mm, 205% higher than normal. Moderate to dense fog can be expected for another week now. On Thursday, Noida saw about 6.5mm of rain.

“While rainfall is not expected any more, the next few days will see moderate to dense foggy conditions,” a meteorological department officer, said.

The rainfall also reduced pollution level in the NCR cities to ‘satisfactory’ levels from ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ levels two days ago.

The air quality index, as recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), on Thursday was 159 in Noida, 188 in Ghaziabad and 202 in Greater Noida.

“The rain and hailstorm has lowered pollution in the city. We expect the air quality index to be in the satisfactory to moderate category for the next few days as the wind speed is also favourable,” Anil Singh, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Noida, said.