'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From December 1854 to March 1856. (New Issue.) Edited by the Secretary. Volume XII.' [‎25] (136/258)

ON HAILSTORMS IN INDIA— 1855.
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delightfully cool and pleasant. Prior to the 10th, it had been hot to a degree during the day,
the evenings and mornings however being fresh and bracing. The oldest inhabitant does not
remember ever having witnessed such violent gale as that above described ”
50.— .HAILSTOKM AT NAIXEE TAL Ott THE UlH MAY 1855. Lat. SS'SI N., Long. 74'26 E.
On the 11th of May 1855, Nynee Tal was visited by a storm of hail, which as regards the
size, weight, and number of the stones, has probably never been surpassed by any in the
world. A calm, cool morning j a hot, enervating noon ; a cold evening and night, with the
wind blowing bleakly from the North, had characterized the few preceding days. The
Barometer had stood high, and the wet bulb thermometer indicated an extremely dry
atmosphere. On the 10th, at 4 p. m., the dry bulb thermometer stood under a grass chopper,
at 80 degrees fahr ; on the lltb, at the same hour and place, at 62 degrees fahr. ! On the
former date, the difference between the dry and wet bulb thermometers was 15 degrees;
on the latter, this difference was reduced to 4 degrees f In the early part of the day
of the storm, clouds had been gathering from the north and north-east, in the after part of it
others travelled up from south and south-west, and appeared to coalesce with these. Towards
6 p. m„ a small preliminary shower of rain fell, deep-toned thunder rolled and reverberated ;
and vivid lightning streamed and blazed over the devoted station. Innumerable bags of wal
nuts seemed to be pouring 6ut their contents in the heavens ; and men of science knew that
hail was coming—and, presently, it came; ushered in by a few bright lens-shaped stones, as
large as pigeon’s eggs r then came more,—larger still ; and whilst wandering Englishmen
lookted and thought, and startled Natives envoked “ Purmesur, Narain,” down fell a shower,
of more than cricket hall size. Was it a delusion ? To rush out, and seize a stone, to call
for scales and tape, was the work of an instant. Many we'e the weighings and measurings of
these monsters over all parts of the station. Some weighed 6; others 8; others 10 ounces ;
and one or two more than 1A pounds avoirdupois, with circumferences varying from 9 to 13
inches. Men and animals fled for shelter; vegetable gardens became ploughed fields, with
“ something green” turning up here and there ; the lake looked as if it were being besieged
by endless batteries; or as if innumerable whales were blowing and sporting in its waters, so
unceasing were the “jets d'eau” cast up by the falling balls of hail : and you sat in your
house, listening to the roar above you, calculating upon the strength of beams and roofing s
yon tried to talk, but your neighbour couldn’t hear you; so you sat, and thought of Vul
can, and the thunder bolls of Jupiter. Men who, hitherto, would have turned away from a
story of bullocks killed by hail with a “ credat judseus” smile and shrug of the shoulder, will
now tell a similar tale ; for though no bullocks were killed, a monkey was, and three human
beings were knocked down. Birds were killed, trees barked, and houses unroofed. Such was
the storm of the 11th May, and it forms an epoch in the meteorological history of Nynee
Tal; for though hail is common enough herein the hot weather, no st'iies, (during the ten
years that Sir W. Richards has kept a register i of any size have ever fallen, except once, and
then they were only 2A inches in circumference. Hailstones of pigeon’s and turkey's egg size,
have often fallen in various parts of the world, but, perhaps, the severest storm of any record
ed) (and to which that at Nynee Tal is a parallel,) was one which occurred in Hertfordshire
in 1697, and mentioned in the Philosophical transactions for that year. The relator says “ I was
walking in my garden, which is very small, about 30 yards square, and before I could get out,
it took me to my knees, and was through my house before I could get in, * * * went through
all like a sea, carrying all wooden things like boats upon the water, tiie greatest part of the town
being under this misfortune. The stones measured from 1 to 14 inches about.”
What is a Hailstorm,. —-Aqueous vapour condensed into ice, by passing through an intense
ly cold atmosphere, is the apparent, and probably the true answer. Some contend that, be
cause hail falls so rarely in winter, and the cloud whence it comes is usually at no great alti
tude, there being at the same time almost always thunder and lightning, {with atmospheric elec
trometers changing in intensity) and passing from positive to negative, and vice versa, (ten
times in a minute,) hence electricity must have quite as much to do in tiie matter as cold. But.
the latter seems the most reasonable view. In almost all very large bail stones, (as was observed
here,)isfound a nucleus ; a piece of snow, or a small opaque hailstone in the centre, suiround
ed by transparent coverings, one over another, concentrically arranged, (like an onion) ; leading
to the belief that the first concretion was a small one, and that it accumulated in its descent ;
that a whirlwind above kept battering these formations together, and prevented their falling,
until at length, immensely enlarged, and getting out of this influence, they came bumping down
upon “ terra firma.” We are not justified in assigning limits to the amount of cold in the upper