Hail Storm

This afternoon, with Manuel, Brandon and Lisa, Bernhard and Loredona, we set out on safari surrounded by a large dark ominous thunderstorm cloud that seemed to grow bigger and bigger the further we drove away from the Exeter River Lodge. We did not have the roof frame fitted on the game-drive vehicle, but by luck, we had left the canvas cover in the vehicle. I hoped that the rain ponchos would be sufficient if the rain came down on us. Thunderstorms are a common occurrence during the summer time in the Lowveld region, where the Sabi Sands Game Reserve is located. At night the cooler moist air sinks into the region making the morning game drives a pleasant temperature to find the wildlife. Throughout the day the rapidly rising temperatures heat the moist air, and wind, together with the rising elevation from the Drakensberg Mountain Range, lifts this warmer moist air to higher altitudes of the atmosphere where the surrounding air is cooler. The moisture rapidly cools into liquid drops which appears as Cumulus clouds. As the water vapor condenses into liquid, latent heat is released which warms the air, causing it to become less dense than the surrounding dry air. In this development stage the air tends to rise in an updraft through the process of convection, creating a low pressure zone beneath the forming thunderstorm. The warmed air continues to rise until it reaches existing air that is warmer and it cannot rise anymore. The moist air is forced to spread out, and in this case the clouds where spreading out over the game reserve. The water droplets collide in the clouds, growing larger and heavier, and at these high altitudes the freezing temperatures create ice particles. As these particles fall they melt into rain drops. If the updrafts to are strong they will keep the ice particles aloft longer to become larger they will eventually fall as hail. A thunderstorm that contains many of these ice particles, and thus the potential to be a hail storm will have a green colour in the cloud formation. This afternoon we did not see any green colour in the clouds only a warning on the radio that a hail storm began to fall in the southern section of the game reserve, some 11 kilometres away. I did not think the hail would reach us and that would take some time, but I was wrong. A white squall of rain approached us from the South and we turned around and drove slowly toward some shelter under the trees. Phickson turned to me and said 'There's stones!" I looked around very confused, not understanding what he was talking about. Three hail stones fell next to the vehicle, we had to take cover. I quickly pulled out the canvas roof cover and told all the guests to get down between the seats so we could create a roof with the canvas. Safely under I yelled over the hail crashing into the body of the strong game drive vehicle. Phickson was the last under and sustained a blow to the head that swelled up. At one point I could not believe what was happening. The hail was falling faster and bigger than before, and it began to dent the bonnet and dash-board! After eight long minutes it was over and we pulled the cover off to be surrounded by huge white hail stones. One we found was the size of a chicken egg. We drove into a dry river bed and it looked like snow had fallen down hiding the road through. The photographs show the size of the hail. We were soaked, and after a stiff Gin and Tonic the guests decided it was time to dry out at the lodge.

Posted: Exeter Lodges by CC Africa, Date: 14 October 2009

 
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