A forwarded message is circulating widely on social media, warning Islamabad and Rawalpindi residents to keep their cars under cover on March 28 and especially March 29, citing a hailstorm forecast from a specialist in atmospheric physics and geospatial prediction who has reportedly developed a high-precision weather model.

The warning aligns with official forecasts, however there is no definite data of a hailstorm or where it may affect. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued alerts for rain, wind, thunderstorms, and hail across the federal capital from March 25 through March 30. The CDA and Islamabad district administration have placed emergency and rescue response teams on high alert and deployed joint field teams across the city. Chairman CDA and Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa has directed comprehensive arrangements including special drainage at underpasses to maintain traffic flow during heavy rainfall.

When users on X sought to verify the viral warning, many turned to Grok, the platform’s AI assistant, which cross-referenced the claim against official meteorological data and confirmed its legitimacy. Grok cited the following:

According to PMD’s weekly outlook (24-30 Mar) and NDMA advisory, a westerly wave is active, bringing rain/thunderstorms with isolated hail to Islamabad/Rawalpindi from 27-30 Mar—intensifying 28-29. PMD posts confirm hail risk Sat-Sun. Public satellite and model data show the disturbance over northern Pakistan. Keep vehicles covered and check http://pmd.gov.pk updates.

The urgency behind this week’s warning gets more ominous given how last year’s hailstorm took Islooites by surprise. In April 2025, a sudden and violent hailstorm struck Islamabad with golf-ball-sized hailstones that battered the city for roughly 35 minutes. The damage was immediate and widespread. Hundreds of car windshields were smashed. Trees were uprooted across multiple sectors including F-6, G-10, I-8, and Blue Area. Streets and rooftops were blanketed in ice. Faisal Mosque sustained minor structural damage. Power outages also hit several areas.

The storm was preceded by abnormally high temperatures, creating the atmospheric conditions for a sudden and violent shift. Social media was flooded with images of destroyed vehicles, ice-covered roads, and residents in shock. The PMD later warned that similar events could recur and attributed the increasing frequency of extreme weather to climate change.

Such incidents have taken a pattern of their own over the years. Following the April storm, another round of hail, wind, and heavy rain hit Islamabad, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May and October 2025, killing over 20 people across Punjab, damaging crops, and tripping over 113 power feeders in KP alone.

Despite the recurring damage, Islamabad’s infrastructure and emergency preparedness remain inadequate for the severity of weather events that are now hitting the capital multiple times a year. Most residential areas have no covered parking infrastructure. Commercial areas in sectors like Blue Area, F-6, and F-7 offer minimal sheltered parking relative to the number of vehicles. The city’s drainage system, while functional in moderate rain, has repeatedly failed during intense downpours, leading to waterlogging on major roads and underpasses.

Tree management across the capital is reactive rather than preventive, with uprooted trees blocking roads after every major storm. Power infrastructure remains fragile, with outages becoming routine during severe weather.