Flights from Dalian to Nanjing and other cities were cancelled yesterday, as freak weather conditions produced huge hailstones which caused damage to numerous aircraft being readied to take passengers off on their National Day holidays.
There was a dramatic shift in the weather in Dalian City of northerly Liaoning Province in the evening of 30 September. There, a sudden storm erupted, producing intense bolts of lightning, accompanied by hail.
In some areas, the hailstones were even as big as eggs. As a result, the stones left large holes in many cars’ windscreens in the vicinity.
The situation become considerably more serious at Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport. Yesterday, 1 October, the Airport announced via its official WeChat account that the facility had been affected by sudden hail and extreme weather the previous night, resulting in varying degrees of damage to some aircraft.
Some flights from Dalian to Nanjing, Fuzhou and Beijing were therefore cancelled, while others to Lanzhou, Xi’an and Urumqi took off after a short delay.
Incoming aircraft from Guilin, Fuzhou, Shanghai and elsewhere were also redirected to other airports yesterday morning, reported The Paper. Affected passengers have been asked to contact their airlines in a timely manner to make alternative travel arrangements.
Back in the Dalian itself, as of 05:00 on 1 October, there had been moderate rain across the City and heavy rain in some areas. The hail had fallen on some parts of downtown, in addition to Jinpu New Area.
The World Journal has also reported that the Dalian Meteorological Bureau implemented hail suppression operations from 14:00 to 23:00 on 30 September.
During the operation, some 24 anti-hail guns fired 495 hail shells skyward. Similar to the way anti-aircraft guns work, the shells explode within thunderstorms, seeding them with billions of microscopic silver iodide particles.
Using this method, such efforts were hoped to decrease the diameter of the hailstones, thereby mitigating potential damage.
