Considered as a one-off phenomenon, hailstorm and thundershowers continue to lash Marathwada, Vidarbha, Madhya Maharashtra and Western Maharashtra throughout March. As light to moderate rainfall coupled with hailstorm continue to batter parts of Maharashtra, harvest of rabi and other crops like wheat, grapes, mangoes and onion remains hit.
The areas affected by hailstorm and rainfall in last 24 hours have been Poladpur, Chaukul, Washim Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Sangli and Akola. Light to moderate rain with hailstorm in between is likely to continue till 14th March over several parts of Maharashtra.
The hailstorms developed due to the confluence of cyclonic circulation over southern Rajasthan and anti-cyclonic circulation over East Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. According to Skymet, areas that received rainfall in last 24 hours are Ahmednagar with 1 mm, Akola with 1.1 mm, Buldhana with 7 mm, Mahabaleshwar with 5.2 mm, Sangli with 4.4 mm of rain.
Due to rains, maximum temperatures in several places have seen a dip and are settling 2-3°C below normal.
Moreover, the hailstorm at the year end, followed by unseasonal rainfall during February and then the incessant rain in past few days have damaged the grape production by 50% in Nashik and other districts including, Satana, Sangli and Malegaon. There is a possibility of crops getting infected with pests that will affect the quality of grapes.
