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World Highest Plateau: A Prime Target for Hail
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest plateau in the world, suffers more from hail than anywhere else in China, according to statistics of the Meteorological Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Nagqu Prefecture, in northeast of Tibet, is pounded by hail an average of 36 days a year. The prefecture's record for days of hail per year is 53; the minimum is 23.
The plateau embraces the whole of Tibet and Qinghai, western Sichuan and southwestern Gansu -- an area of 2.3 million square kilometers, 4,000-5,000 meters above sea level.
The hailstorms have caused serious losses to the agricultural production on the plateau, said weather experts.
Tibet plans to set up a man-induced weather modification system on the plateau within 15 years in order to minimize the economic loss from hail damage by as much as 300 to 500 million yuan (US$36 to US$60 million), experts said.
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