Claim: Video shows small hailstones falling from the sky in Hohoe
Source: Twitter
Verdict: TRUE
A video showing small hailstones falling from the sky has been shared on the micro-blogging platform, Twitter and is being suggested to have happened in Hohoe, a town in the northern part of the Volta Region in Ghana.
The 28 seconds long video which has garnered more than 260,000 views on Twitter, comes with the caption “this is absolutely shocking and miraculous, raining ice in Hohoe yesterday.”
This is absolutely shocking and miraculous, raining 🌧️ ice in Hohoe yesterday. A City in the Volta region #Nationalshutdown pic.twitter.com/U7CpOIjTpy
— Ayim Derrick (@Derrick_Ayim10) February 25, 2023
Fact-check
“Three persons I contacted in Hohoe confirmed it hail rained yesterday (February 24), late afternoon,” a fact-checking journalist and member of the Ghana Fact-checking Network based in Ho, Lambert Coffie confirmed the incident.
“The hail rain on Friday brought back childhood nostalgia when we stayed in the rain to pick ice. It is a rare occurrence, and I love the sight of it,” an indigene of the area told Lambert Coffie.
The Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive, Daniel Noble Awume, when contacted by GhanaFact also confirmed the incident.
“It’s a normal feature here. I have witnessed it countless times. On Friday, yes! (It happened) in the afternoon,” he said.
Hailstones in the Ashanti region
In 2020, the Ghana Meteorological Agency confirmed a similar incident in the Ashanti region.
“Hail forms when strong currents of rising air (Updrafts) carry droplets of water high enough that they freeze, the ice pellets that drop are known as the hailstones,” the agency explained in a Facebook Post.
Verdict
The video showing small hailstones falling from the skies in Hohoe is TRUE.
By: Gifty Tracy Aminu