Despite bumper yield of watermelon in Khulna this year, farmers and traders fear massive losses due to hailstorm, heavy rains and fall in price. On March 21, hailstorm damaged huge amount of watermelon on around 203 hectares of land worth about Tk 10 crore. According to officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), in 2016 watermelon was cultivated only on 407 hectares of land in Khulna. In 2021, 7,512 hectares  of land was brought under cultivation and in 2022,  record 13,970 hectares of land was cultivated. Although watermelon yield was very goods last year, farmers incurred big losses due to rains and drop in price.   DAE officials said  watermelon cultivation has decreased this year due to huge losses last year. This year, this summer fruit was cultivated on 12, 225 hectares of land which is 1,745 hectares less than last year’s cultivation. Read more: Can one earn a living by farming off-season watermelon? Local farmers and the department expected  35-40 maund yield per hectare and selling of  watermelon worth Tk 611 crore. But hailstorms and continuous rain have become cause of worry. A big portion of watermelon in Khulna is cultivated in Dacope upazila. This year, this fruit has been  cultivated in a total nine unions of Dacope upazila .Local farmers have cultivated watermelon on around 6,320 hectares of land and farmers hope they will be able to start selling of the fruit  by 10 to 15 days.  Watermelon has been cultivated on 1,200 hectares of land in Koyra Upazila this year and the crops will be ready for market within 15 days. In the meantime, 200 hectares of land in Koyra and 3 hectares of land in Paikgachha were completely destroyed due to a hailstorm on March 21.   Utpal Raptan, a farmer of Banishanta Union under Dacope Upazila, said, compared to last year, per bigha production cost has increased by Tk 4000 to 5000 this year. Still, he cultivated 3 bighas of land to recover last year's losses . Dacope Upazila Agriculture Officer KM Maksudunnabi said, watermelon cultivation declined due to last year’s losses. But this year  yield is better than the previous year. Read more: Mechanical engineer finds fortune in growing rock melons, becomes inspiration for local farmers Mosaddek Hossain, additional deputy director of Khulna DAE, said, " Hailstorm and rain is causing anxiety among farmers. Still, it is expected that watermelons worth 600 crores will be sold this year.”

Bangladesh Meteorological Department on Saturday forecast rain or thunder showers in different parts of the country including Dhaka in the next 24 hours commencing 9 am. “Rain/thunder showers accompanied by intense lightning flashes and temporary gusty/squally wind is likely at a few places over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh & Sylhet divisions,” said a Met office bulletin. Read: No gas in parts of Dhaka, Savar and southern districts for 48 hrs from 10 pm on May 3 Rain may occur at one or two places over Khulna, Barishal & Chattogram divisions with hails at isolated places, it added. Mild heat waves are sweeping over different parts of the country including Tangail, Gopalgonj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Rangamati, Rajshahi & Pabna. Day temperature may fall slightly and night temperature may remain unchanged over the country.

At least 300 establishments including houses were damaged as a nor’wester accompanied by hailstorm and gusty winds swept through the three upazilas of Brahmanbaria district Monday. The storm started around 3:20 am and lasted for ten minutes. The storm damaged 300 houses, electric poles were damaged while a number of trees were uprooted in Sarail, Nasirnagar and Bijoynagar upazilas of the district. Besides, 40 people were injured during the storm in Nasirnagar upazila. Of them, one was undergoing treatment at Sadar hospital, said Nasirnagar Upazila officer, Avhijit Roy. Also read: At least 40 houses damaged in nor’wester in Kurigram A portion of the East Balikhola Primary School building collapsed during the storm, forcing the authorities concerned to shut down the school for an indefinite period.

A fisherman was killed at Ulipur Upazila in Kurigram as a nor'wester lashed across the country on  Friday night into early hours of Saturday. The deceased was identified as Momir Uddin, 42. Police and local sources said a tree crushed Momir near Shyampur Kumar Para area as he was returning from Bazar amid the storm. Hearing his cries locals rescued him and rushed to Upazila Health Complex, where the doctor announced him dead. Also read: 12 killed in Gaibandha, Faridpur as nor’wester lashes country Ulipur police station’s Officer-in-Charge confirmed the incident. Nor'wester also caused immense damage in several districts of the country including Panchagarh,  Thakurgaon and Bhola. In Panchagarh, nor'wester hit with heavy rain and wind around 9pm on Friday. Moreover, hailstorm was seen in some places of the district. Also read: Nor’wester destroys 250 houses in Bhola The Meteorological office recorded 47 Km per hour velocity of the wind during the storm which caused a long power cut in the district. Many houses and crops were destroyed during this time. Ferry services were suspended for a long time at Ilisha Ferry Ghat in Bhola due to the storm. Many vehicles were stranded on both sides of the ghat due to this. Also read: Nor’wester sweeps Joypurhat; 4 killed On the other hand, a partial part of a boat carrying passengers sank at Dhal Char Union under Charfashion Upazila because of the storm. However, no casualties were reported.

After failing to get fair price for onions in the previous season, farmers in differet upazilas here are dreaming of making up their loss this season thanks to bumper onion yield.

Cities in New Zealand's South Island were hit by a big hailstorm on Wednesday and potential tornadoes were forecasted for the region.