Nazre dam witness to Maharashtra’s first officially recorded tornado
The duration of tornado event was between 90 seconds to 120 secs according to the centre for citizen science.
A tornado like situation was seen at Nazre dam in Purandar taluka on Friday with many locals sharing their experience of sighting the tornado.
Members of the centre for citizen science visited the location on Saturday and spoke to locals about the what they had seen.
Mayuresh Prabhune, member, centre for citizen science, said, "On June 8, a tornado like situation was observed in Ranmala village, Najredam in Purandar taluka. The event was captured in camera and, the photos and videos went viral on social media. This is the first time that a tornado event is officially recorded in Maharashtra. A three member team form the centre investigated the phenomena by visiting the location on June 9.The team interviewed more than 10 eye witnesses and locals and gathered information about the features of the tornado, its duration, path and the intensity.The team also collected photographs and videos taken by eye witness."
He added that based on site observations and video records, the primary conclusion is that the duration of tornado event was between 90 seconds to 120 secs. The total distance covered by the ground point of tornado was 800m to 1,000m (including over water and ground). Property loss and damage included a few metal covers of motor pumps and tin roof of cattle shelters on the path of the tornado were also damaged. Prabhune said that no nobody was injured as a result of the tornado and post the event, heavy rainfall was observed, with the nearest rain gauge recording 101 mm rainfall for one hour to one and a half hours.
Recently, the centre for climate change research of the Indian institute of tropical meteorology (IITM) had said that extreme events like heatwaves and cyclones are likely to become more frequent and more intense due to climate change in the coming years.