Intense rainfall occurred late Sunday in villages in Thessaly and western Phthiotis. In mid-summer, residents faced heavy rain and hail.
Small fragments of ice covered the road in a dense layer, which immediately sharply increased the risk of driving along it. In the first minutes of the hailstorm, local residents thought it was snowing outside.
According to local news site lamiareport.gr, the bad weather particularly hit the village of Timfristos in Fthiotida. In the territory from Vardusia to Sarandaina, this phenomenon was observed especially clearly. In Neochori Timphristos, hail covered the ground with a white blanket like snow, greatly impressing the local residents.
According to local media, similar images were also observed in Trikala, in the villages of Aspropotamos, as well as in the village of Petrilo in Karditsa.
Hail in summer is not an unusual occurrence in Greece. As meteo.gr explains, in late spring and early summer, cold air masses from Northern Europe often descend to the south, creating unstable conditions combined with intense heating of the soil. The presence of large amounts of moisture also contributes to the occurrence of thunderstorms and storms.
Hail is formed during storms in conditions of strong instability and changes in wind speed at altitude, which leads to turbulence in the clouds. Alternating updrafts and downdrafts lift and sink hailstones, increasing in size as water vapor condenses and freezes.
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