Thunderstorms accompanied with squall and hail is very likely to hit many parts of India, including Delhi, till Friday even as the mountains of Himachal Pradesh received fresh snowfall.
In a weather warning bulletin on Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the states likely to be affected by thunderstorms and gusty winds are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Karnataka and Kerala.
Thunderstorms and squalls are ‘very, very likely at isolated places in Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi’, the weather office said.
It also warned of duststorm in Rajasthan while heavy rain is expected in six northeast states.
The bulletin also warned of heat wave conditions in ‘one or two pockets in Vidarbha’ in Maharashtra.
The weather office warned of squalls and hail along with thunderstorms in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
The Delhi government has put search and rescue teams on standby in every district following the meteorological department’s warning about heavy rains and thunderstorm, news agency PTI reported.
IMD has suggested that the wether distrubances predicted over the next few days may not be as bad as expected. The current meteorological activity is not as strong as it was on May 2 (when a freak storm killed more than 100 people across India). There is no need to press the panic button… the weather activity is expected to be subdued, the IMD has said.
More than 115 people died and dozens were injured in squalls and sandstorms in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening. At least 10 died in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh following heavy rain on Thursday. Many people were also injured in these states, as well as in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. (with agency inputs)
