10-minute hailstorm showers Baguio

BAGUIO CITY — Corn kernel-sized pebbles of ice pelted this highland resort city and nearby Benguet province for over 10 minutes starting at 4 p.m. yesterday.

It was the first hailstorm of the year, according to weather observer Wilson Locando of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) office here.

Far from being a sign of apocalypse, Locando said a hailstorm is nothing to fear, since it is simply a natural phenomenon that occurs when high temperatures hit land, causing precipitation to fall to earth as rain but freeze on the way to the ground.

He reported that, at 2 p.m., the temperature in Baguio City rose to 24 degrees Celsius. Warm air rose to the atmosphere and formed a cumulo-nimbus cloud. Before the hailstorm occurred, there were thunderstorms as moist air formed into clouds, he added.

He believes that, considering the size of the hailstones, exposed seedlings along farmlands and vegetable gardens in Baguio and nearby Benguet might have been destroyed as the storm, which amazed tourists and residents alike, lasted for more than 10 minutes.

However, Locando was quick to add that other exposed vegetables and flowers would not be adversely affected.

He also said it was just a coincidence that a convection of clouds in the atmosphere resulted in the hailstorm.

Locando said it was also the first time since he began work as a weather observer in 1995 that a hailstorm had occurred. — Artemio Dumlao