Hail Hits South Tangerang; BMKG Says Cloud Temperature at -80 Degree Celsius

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) explained the phenomenon of the scorching hot weather which preceded the hail in South Tangerang on Monday afternoon, March 14. The phenomenon went viral on social media as the hot weather throughout the afternoon suddenly changed to the dark sky.

Hail occurred between heavy rain and strong winds with lightning. In several city areas, the extreme weather left a trail of broken tree trunks scattered on the road. Besides, a number of billboards were torn and fell such as along Jalan Puspitek and Benda Raya.

Aerial cables also broke and dangled above the ground and roads. Some of them loosened that potentially endangered road users.

According to the agency, the extreme weather accompanied by hail came from high cumulonimbus clouds where the peak has a condensation temperature of up to -80 degrees Celsius. The agency’s Instagram account showed a photo of the cloud from the Himawari satellite covering the southern Tangerang area.

The same cloud once grew over Surabaya of East Java, on February 21. At that time, the agency’s data stated that the altitude reached 8-9 kilometers with a temperature ranging from -69 to -100 degrees Celsius.

The agency’s coordinator for weather forecast and early warning, Miming Saepudin, explained that the growth of such cumulonimbus clouds was triggered by significant instability of the air. “That can trigger the growth of quite strong convective clouds,” he said on Monday night.

In its weather forecast for today, March 14, the BMKG warned of the potential for heavy rains for several areas, including South Tangerang due to the seeds of Tropical Cyclone 90S in the Indian Ocean south of Lampung.

Read: BMKG: Rain to Shower Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Bekasi, and Tangerang

MARIA FRANSISCA LAHUR