On Friday, a powerful tornado ripped through Punjab’s Fazilka district, causing injuries and widespread damage. The tornado moved quickly through the northern state around 4 p.m., damaging buildings and other structures in its path.
According to media reports, the bizarre phenomenon injured over a dozen people and livestock, damaged over 50 houses, and destroyed crops in the west Punjab district before crossing into Pakistan.
The weather service predicts cloudy skies and light to heavy rain in the area over the weekend. On Thursday and Friday, Punjab experienced heavy rain.
Western disturbance-triggered rains, thunderstorms, and gusty winds were recorded in isolated locations across Punjab on Friday, according to a weather channel report. Tornadoes form more easily in such unstable weather conditions; in fact, tornadoes are born when thunderstorms collide with strong winds blowing in the opposite direction.
A swirling vortex is formed when the warm and moist air from a thunderstorm rises and collides with the cold and dry air from the winds. As a result, the air begins to spin faster and faster, forming a column of rotating air that extends from the thunderstorm to the ground. This rotating column is known as a tornado.
Meanwhile, intermittent rainfall in Punjab over the last few days has caused the lodging of the wheat crop. According to reports, crop damage has been reported in Sangrur, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and other districts in southwest Punjab.
According to the state meteorology department, 36.4 mm of rain fell on Thursday and 40.6 mm of rain fell on Friday, which is 149% more than the average.
