The residents of Rizal province were having a normal summer day yesterday, which meant trudging through work in the more or less 35 degree heat.

By mid-afternoon, however, they were given a surprising respite from the heat when rain clouds dropped hail the size of marbles. The rare occurrence had residence snapping photos of the ‘miraculous’ rain:

The residents of Rizal province were having a normal summer day yesterday, which meant trudging through work in the more or less 35 degree heat.

By mid-afternoon, however, they were given a surprising respite from the heat when rain clouds dropped hail the size of marbles. The rare occurrence had residence snapping photos of the ‘miraculous’ rain:

Tyrone Jay Almendrala, a resident of Burgos village, observed that the temperature all morning had been hot and warm. Storm clouds started to gather around 2pm. Around 40 minutes later, the rain began to drop chunks of ice.

He said ‘It felt like a slight pinch every time it hits you.’

The cold chunks of ice that accompany hail storms are regarded as very unusual for a tropical country like the Philippines, especially this summer where temperatures fall around 35 degrees.

However, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) clarified that hail storms are more common in the Philippines than what we believe. In fact, the chances of hail storms occurring increase during summer.

Hail storms are formed when thunder clouds called cumulo-nimbus form near the ground. Inside the clouds are ice crystals that freeze and become hail the longer they stay inside the clouds.

Warm, moist air generated by the summer heat push up the ice crystals, keeping them inside the clouds. This is why the conditions in summer are good for creating hail storms. Because of the closeness of the clouds to the ground, the hail stones have no time to melt when they finally fall.