With the Southwest Monsoon arriving over some areas of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea early last week, parts of India are likely to experience light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds over the next 7 days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated in its forecast on Monday. The wet weather conditions will be accompanied by thundersquall and hailstorm in some parts of the country. Even as the IMD predicted no significant change in maximum temperatures across the country, they might fall gradually by 2-3 degrees Celsius over the next 3 days in parts of East India. This comes after several parts of the country recorded significant rainfall on Sunday, with about 72 houses being damaged in the Khowai district of Tripura. Moreover, in Himachal Pradesh, thunderstorms also caused damages in parts of Mandi district early Monday, while flash floods in Udaipur sub-division of Lahaul and Spiti district blocked the Sansari-Killar-Tindi-Thirot road, news agency PTI reported. Weather in Delhi Delhi will continue experiencing rain spell along with thunderstorms over the next three days. This comes after light rainfall and thunderstorms, accompanied by gusty winds, hit parts of Delhi-NCR earlier this week, following dust-laden winds from Pakistan and western Rajasthan that pushed the AQI to ‘poor’ levels and reduced visibility. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 29 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the maximum temperatures settling around 39 degrees Celsius, according to the Safdarjung observatory. As per a report in The Indian Express, the AQI will fluctuate between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ over the next few days, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology had stated in its forecast. Weather in North and North West India The plains of Northwest India are likely to experience isolated light to moderate rainfall, along with thunderstorm, lightning, and gusty winds reaching 30-50 kmph till Saturday, the IMD stated. While Jammu-Kashmir-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad will witness similar weather conditions for the next two days, in Uttarakhand, the wet weather will prevail till the end of this week. Parts of both Himachal and Uttarakhand are also likely to witness isolated hailstorm today. Himachal Pradesh: As residents of Mandi and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh woke up to dark cloudy skies on Monday, the local Met office issued an 'orange' alert for light to moderate rainfall, accompanied by lightning, hail and gusty winds with a speed of 40-50 kilometres per hour at isolated places in Una and Shimla districts today. A 'yellow' warning is in place as well at isolated places in Bilapsur, Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur, Solan and Sirmaur districts, which will experience light to moderate rains accompanied by lightning and gusty winds with a speed of 30-40 kilometres per hour, PTI report stated. Pandoh dam authorities in Mandi district have cautioned the general public and tourists not to venture to the banks of River Beas as the spill gates could be opened anytime with the rise in the level of water. Following damages caused by thunderstorms on Monday, the safety of the dam is being ascertained, officials told PTI. The police have further urged public to avoid travelling on the Sansari-Killar-Tindi-Thirot road, as its clearance was obstructed by rains which caused flash floods in the Udaipur sub-division of Lahaul and Spiti district. Weather in West India Goa, Konkan, Marathwada, and Madhya Maharashtra will experience weather conditions similar to that in Northwest India, with isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall, along with thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds, reaching approximately 50 kmph this week. Isolated heavy rainfall are also likely over south Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa this week. Weather in Northeast India Under the influence of an upper air cyclonic circulation over central Assam extending up to 1.5 km above mean sea level, rainy weather will prevail over parts of Northeast India, specifically, in Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh over the next 7 days. According to the IMD, fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall is likely in these parts of the country, along with thunderstorms and lightning. Parts of the three states may witness isolated very heavy rainfall over the next two days. The weather agency, as per a report in The Indian Express, has predicted a partly cloudy sky with the occurrence of light to moderate rain or thundershower in some areas of Tripura in the next 24 hours. The MeT department has also warned of thunderstorms with lightning and gusty wind speeds of 40-50 kmph at one or two places in the districts. Weather in East and Central India Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, and Chhattisgarh are likely to experience light to moderate rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds, between 30-50 kmph, as per the forecast. Isolated heavy rainfall and thundersquall activity, with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph, and gusting to 70 kmph will prevail over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, and Chhattisgarh over the next 2-3 days. Weather in South India Similar weather conditions will prevail over parts of Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Kerala, Mahe, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Karaikal over the next 7 days. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Kerala & Mahe, coastal Karnataka, Lakshadweep, North Interior and South Interior Karnataka, beginning Monday. Isolated places over coastal Karnataka may witness extremely heavy rainfall on Tuesday. This follows the heavy downpour which lashed the city of Bengaluru for over six hours during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, which led to waterlogging, traffic disruptions, and damages to multiple houses. The IMD has issued a ‘yellow alert’ for Bengaluru till Friday, indicating that moderate rainfall is likely to continue across the city. Heatwave conditions: Heatwave conditions are likely to prevail in isolated pockets of West Rajasthan between May 19 and 22, the IMD bulletin stated. This region will also experience warm nights today. Odisha will, meanwhile, witness hot and humid conditions today.
