20 March, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The first spring thunderstorm rumbled in Vitebsk last evening, Lyudmila Borodenok, lead engineer-forecaster of the Vitebsk Regional Centre for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, told a BELTA correspondent. As expected, the thunderstorm was accompanied by rain, thunder, and strong gusts of wind reaching 22 m/s. The preconditions for its formation were the collision of two air masses with different temperatures – very warm and very cold. Only residents of the regional centre were able to witness this rare natural phenomenon, Lyudmila Borodenok added, noting that March thunderstorms are recorded by meteorologists once every ten years. Windy weather will persist in the region in the coming days: on March 20, wind gusts will reach 15-20 m/s, and on March 21, up to 14 m/s. In the following days, the wind will weaken. Night air temperatures will be characterised by light frost, while daytime temperatures will be positive. Truly spring-like weather, associated with the passage of a southern anticyclone, will set in from March 22. The strong wind caused power outages in 103 settlements in 13 districts of the Vitebsk region, as well as the partial collapse of a private residential house in the Verkhnedvinsk district. The consequences of the storm are currently being eliminated.-0-

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