February 2025 West Bengal Hailstorms

The 2025 West Bengal storms were a series of Convective thunderstorms that passed through much of the Indian state of West Bengal on 18 and 19 February 2025. One of the most severe storms passed directly over Kharagpur on 18 February, bringing lightning, flash flooding, very large hail and strong winds to the city. Basirhat also experienced strong hailstorm on the next day.
Storm overview
Kharagpur thunderstorms
On February 18, 2025, A sudden storm, accompanied by heavy hail, started in Kharagpur at around 8:30 pm. Large trees fell in several areas of the city. Hoardings and billboards were broken. The storm was most intense in the areas adjacent to Kharagpur Station, Sub-Divisional Hospital and IIT Kharagpur, according to local administration sources. On Tuesday night, just 50 meters after leaving Kharagpur railway station, a tree fell on the pantograph of the Coromandel Express engine. Due to this, the express was stopped for about an hour. Also, due to the force of the strong storm, several local trains including Jagannath Express and Rani Shiromani Express were stuck at that time. Rail traffic was disrupted for about an hour. According to railway sources, the situation was brought under control by 10 pm.
Basirhat thunderstorms
On February 19, 2025, a severe Hailstorm occurred in the Basirhat subdivision, including the municipal region of Basirhat, causing minor damages to weak structures and agriculture. In Hingalganj, A landslide occurred on the banks of Ichamati river. According to local sources, a large part of the fodder fell into the river due to the hailstorm.
Observation of Indian Meteorological Department
Indian Meteorological Department observed Significant amount of rainfall in Gangetic
West Bengal on those two days. They published in a bulletin about the rainfall data of major cities, where Burdwan recorded 8 cm of rainfall, Alipore recorded 5 cm, Haldia recorded 3 cm Salt Lake, Diamond Harbour and Canning recorded 2 cm each. IMD also said that this Convective system was formed due to a trough, which lied from north Bangladesh to Telangana and an anti-cyclonic circulation which lied over north Bay of Bengal in Lower tropospheric levels.

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