Northwest Vietnam hit by largest hailstone recorded in 30 years

The hail was reported to occur in several communes, with some stones have diameter of 4 to 8 centimeters, which punctured through the rooftops and broke vehicles’ mirrors. Many people were panicked and had to quickly rush to find shelter.

Tran Quoc Hiep , head of Chiem Hoa hydrological stations in Tuyen Quang Province, said that the hailstorm unexpectedly fell in the area from 6:45 to 6:55am in the Sunday morning. 

“The sky suddenly turned dark. There were strong winds accompanied by big hisses, then all of a sudden the roaring hail fell down”, Hiep said. 

He said that the weather seems normal before the hail and no special warning had been issued for this area. Hiep claimed that this is the first time he witnessed such huge hailstorm over more than 30 years of work.

Hailstone punctured rooftops in Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam. Photo: Hoai An

On the hail’s cause, Meteorological stations in Tuyen Quang said that the influence of weakened high pressure in combination with elevated tropical wind has caused rainfalls over the whole province, with showers, strong thunderstorms and winds in some places.

The authority is determining the damages and losses from the hailstone.