A powerful tornado tore through Punjab's Fazilka district on Friday, causing injuries, and widespread damage. The tornado rolled through the northern state at around 4pm and moved quickly, damaging buildings and other structures in its path.

Several media reports suggest the freak phenomenon injured over half a dozen people and livestock, damaged more than 50 houses and destroyed crops in the west Punjab district before crossing over to Pakistan.

A massive #Tornado reported from a village in #Fazilka district of #Punjab this evening. ?????
This is second tornado reported from Punjab within a week.
Spring WDs have always brought in severe weather in the plains of North #India.
The frequency of tornado reporting in #India is… pic.twitter.com/bPZqZDBPfU

— Weatherman Navdeep Dahiya (@navdeepdahiya55) March 24, 2023

The weather department has predicted cloudy weather and light to heavy rainfall in the area over the weekend. Punjab received heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday.

What caused a tornado in Punjab?

According to a report by weather channel, western disturbance-triggered rains, thunderstorms and gusty winds were recorded in isolated locations across Punjab on Friday. Such unstable weather conditions facilitate the formation of tornadoes; in fact, tornadoes are essentially born when thunderstorms meet strong winds blowing in a different direction.

When the warm and moist air from a thunderstorm rises and meets the cold and dry air from the winds, a swirling vortex is created. This causes the air to spin faster and faster, creating a column of rotating air that reaches down from the thunderstorm to the ground. And this rotating column is what we call a tornado.

Incessant rains damage crops

Meanwhile, intermittent rainfall during the last few days across Punjab has also led to lodging of the wheat crop. As per reports Sangrur, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and the districts in south-west Punjab have reported damage to the crop.

According to the state meteorology department an average of 36.4 mm rainfall was reported on Thursday and 40.6 mm on Friday so far, which is 149% more than the average.