On the 10th of December, the Italian areas of Polignano, Monopoli and Fasano were hit by a heavy hailstorm. Giandomenico De Mola witnessed this and commented on it as follows: "Around 11:00 AM an exceptional and unusual hailstorm hit Polignano, and an hour later it migrated south".
"There is clearly visible damage to crops such as lettuce, beets and other leafy vegetables, which were ready to be harvested. For these products, several foliar lesions are already evident, but we will have to wait another 48 hours to fully determine the extent of the damage of this atmospheric event".
"Hundreds of hectares have been affected by this phenomenon. Fortunately, the structures have been spared. It is premature to quantify the damage, because we do not know its size. For example, it may be that the lesions make it impossible to sell the chard, but the same lesions will have less impact on lettuce sales.
"It seems that hail, which was about one centimetre in size, has spared other vegetables typical of the area because of their shape, such as parsley".
"Similar events are atypical in this period. The abnormal weather conditions of the recent months, with temperatures above the seasonal average, make the sea water relatively warmer. If the air is colder, this causes very intense storm cells in coastal areas".