Thunderstorm alert Highlights: The fresh round of stormy weather is unlikely to be as devastating as the one that was witnessed last week.. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
A week after dust storms wreaked havoc in west Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh, killing 124 people and leaving more than 300 injured, thunderstorms accompanied by squall and heavy rains are likely to occur in at least 20 states and two Union Territories across the country on Monday and Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department has predicted. However, the fresh round of stormy weather is unlikely to be as devastating as the one that was witnessed last week. In its evening bulletin on Sunday, the IMD warned people especially in northern and eastern states to brace for extreme weather. Following the warning, the Haryana government has decided that all government and private schools in the state will remain closed on the two days. The Himachal Pradesh government has alerted all deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates to remain alert on Monday. Follow today’s Thunderstorm alert LIVE UPDATES
Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail is likely to hit Himachal Pradesh. (Express Photo by Sahil Walia)
The Met Dept has denied possibilities of rain for the next five days in Gujarat but has predicted that the temperature could come down. "We expect a little bit of drop in temperature for the next two days. The maximum temperature in North-Gujarat to vary between 41-43 degree celsius. I don't expect any kind of rain for the next five days," Jayant Sarkar, Director of IMD, Ahmedabad, told news agency ANI.
(Express Photos by Amit Mehra)
Visibility has decreased due to the dust storm. Seen here are visuals from the Ring Road in the national capital. (Express Photos by Abhinav Saha)
India Meteorological Department in an advisory has warned of 'thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds' in Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours. "Under the influence of a Western Disturbance; a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and a west-east trough from northwest Rajasthan to central Madhya Pradesh in lower levels, thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and moderate squall (speed between 50 to 70 kmph) is very likely at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours. Hailstorm is also likely at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the same period," read the statement.
A dust storm has hit Delhi and parts of NCR.
Strong winds along with rain have hit Delhi, Gurgaon and adjoining parts of NCR. The Meteorological Department earlier warned of rain in the national capital, while a dust and thunder storm may hit the city in the next 24 hours. Delhi, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Khurja are expected to receive rainfall on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department issued thunderstorm with light rain and strong winds over NCR including Hisar, Jind Rohtak, Bhiwani and Narnaul in next two hours.
After Delhi, all schools and Anganwadi centers in Dehradun to remain closed tomorrow. Thunderstorm and hailstorm alert has been issued for Dehradun district for the next 48 hours.
The Haryana government has cancelled leave of all officials in municipalities across the state, in view of the IMD issuing an alert forecasting thunderstorm and squall tomorrow in several parts of north India. Fire and other emergency services, too, have been directed to remain alert.
The directions were issued by the state government after a meeting of Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain with senior officers of her department here.
The Delhi government Monday decided to close all evening schools tomorrow following the weather department's warning about heavy rains and thunderstorm. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary Anshu Prakash to review preparedness in the wake of the warning.
The IMD issued an amber-coloured alert, indicating severe weather for parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, western Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal. The following states could witness thunderstorm and squall tomorrow with winds gusting up to 50-70 kilometres per hour.
There are four types of colour codes signifying the level of caution -- green (which means no action), yellow (a situation to be watched), amber (government agencies to be prepared for severe weather) and red (action needed by the agencies).
Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, hundreds of nomadic families with their livestock were stranded after high-altitude areas of Chenab valley in Jammu and Kashmir experienced unseasonal snowfall. The snowfall followed torrential rains that lashed large parts of Jammu and Kashmir since Sunday, brought down the mercury by several notches.
The Delhi traffic police issued weather advisory for commuters. It has alerted forces on the field to be on the alert and to ensure that obstacles such as fallen trees were removed. The Delhi government has also put search and rescue teams on standby in every district following the meteorological department's warning about heavy rains and thunderstorm. The revenue department of the government has issued directions to all district officers and said water and power utilities would also keep restoration teams ready.
According to IMD, the cyclonic circulation over west Haryana and neighbourhood lies at 1.5 km above sea level. Meanwhile, the cyclonic circulation over northeast Rajasthan and adjoining West Madhya Pradesh extending upto 1.5 km above mean sea levelhas become less marked.
While people are seeking relief from thunderstorm, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah saying, " Uttar Pradesh government had sent relief within 24 hours of crisis, did Siddaramaiah ever pay a visit to families of farmers who committed suicide in Karnataka?"
Thunderstorm alert has been issued in Bikaner for the next three days. At least 124 people were killed as storms and heavy rain lashed swathes of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan last Wednesday.
The meteorological centre in Uttar Pradesh has issued thunderstorm warnings in some districts of Uttar Pradesh. A thunderstorm accompanied with squall in districts of Rapmpur, Gaziabad, Bagpat, Meerut, Bijnor, Muzzagarnagr, Saharanpur, Bareli, Aligarh, Bulandsahar, Gautam Buddhnagar and Mathura is expected in next 48 hours.
As temperature rises in the North, devotees in Uttar Pradesh demand coolers for Gods in temples.
Coolers and ACs installed inside temples in Kanpur as temperature goes higher in the region. The care takers & priests of the temple say, 'Devotees approached us & said that 'Gods' too feel hot like us so something must be done for them.' pic.twitter.com/Kpkwo1U5Bg
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 7, 2018
Rainfall occurred at many places over coastal and interior Karnataka, at a few places over Kerala and at isolated places over Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. However, weather in Telangana and Lakshadweep was relatively dry. Meanwhile, Adilabad district in Telangana recorded the highest maximum temperature in the region at 44 degrees Celsius.
In Madhya Pradesh, a woman and a child died in separate incidents after their houses collapsed as high velocity winds swept across Porsa town. The winds hit Porsa on Sunday evening, damaging several houses and uprooting trees, PTI quoted Ambah town's sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) R S Bakna as saying. Nearly 15 people were injured in different parts of the town in incidents of wall collapse or trees falling on them.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued an advisory, listing "dos and don'ts" during a thunderstorm, which is predicted in 20 states across the country on Monday and Tuesday. The agency has also tweeted a video explainer to how citizens can keep themselves safe during thunderstorms and lightning.
Meanwhile, even as Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh saw heavy rainfall and hailstorm, it was a sultry day in the national capital today with the mercury soaring to 36.2 degrees Celsius and humidity levels touching 70 per cent. In the picture below, patients can be seen braving the heat and waiting for their number at AIIMS. The absence of a shade for the patients in the premises added to the discomfort.
Patients at AIIMS in New Delhi on Monday. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)
An 11-year-old girl died in Mainpuri after a tree fell on her as strong surface winds followed by hail storm hit parts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday, IANS reported. The MeT office has issued an alert for the next 48 hours. District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal issued a detailed advisory with 'Dos and Don'ts', gearing up for another deadly storm as the Met warned of high velocity winds and heavy showers in the region. On Monday, Mainpuri, Firozabad and Mathura suffered heavy losses after winds over 100-kmph lashed the districts followed by hail storm. In Mathura, the squall damaged hoardings, snapped electric lines and uprooted a number of trees.
Keylong valley in Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh saw fresh snowfall today as temperatures plummeted to -11 degrees Celcius. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail are very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
It was a sunny morning in the national capital on Monday with the minimum temperature recorded at 24 degrees Celsius, one notch below the season's average. "The day ahead will be partly cloudy. Light rain with strong surface wind is likely to occur," IANS quoted an IMD official as saying. The maximum temperature will likely hover around 38 degrees Celsius. The humidity at 8 am was 58 per cent.
The IMD has predicted that dust storms are “very likely” at isolated places in Rajasthan even though not at the same scale as last week. Some places in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura can expect heavy rains. Down south, gusty winds along with moderate to heavy rains are also likely to sweep through Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Rain and hailstorm in Shimla. (Express Photo by Pradeep Kumar)
While wind speed is normally around 50 kmph in a thunderstorm, in case of dust storm, it reaches up to 100 kmph and in some cases it can touch 130 kmph, making conditions severe.
Meanwhile, in view of the thunderstorm warning, the Haryana government has issued a slew of preventive steps. People have been told not to panic and try to stay indoors. People have been further advised to unplug all electrical equipment and use corded telephones. Further, according to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, people should not take shelter near or under trees, and also stay away from power and telephone lines. In case of a storm, people outside must stay away from fallen trees or power lines and report them to nearest tehsil or district headquarters immediately, the advisory stated.
So, why is the country, especially the northern region, witnessing such turbulent weather since the past week. Rainstorms and duststorms arise from similar meteorological conditions. They are almost always preceded -- and caused -- by a spell of intense heat. Thunderstorms or hail occur when the atmosphere has moisture; when it doesn’t, duststorms take place. Many parts of India witness a build-up of surface heat during this time of the year. The places that were hit by the storms had seen heat-wave like conditions last week. The final trigger, however, is the development of a largescale air-circulation system. In this particular case, the trigger came from the circulation system that developed over Rajasthan a last week.
The India Meteorological Department said there were chances of rain in the national capital, while a dust and thunder storm may hit the city in the next 24 hours. Delhi, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Khurja are expected to receive rainfall on Monday. "There are chances of rains at different areas of the city... There are possibilities of thunderstorm and dust storm from Monday evening onwards," an IMD official said.
According to IMD, for the country as a whole, cumulative rainfall during this year’s pre-monsoon season up to May 2, 2018, is below the long period average (LPA) by 21 per cent. Till May 2, northwest India received 55.1 mm rainfall as against a normal of 81.2 mm. East and northeast India too witnessed a rainfall deficit of 29 per cent. The southern peninsula, however, received 19 per cent more rainfall than the LPA.
(Source: IMD)
Rains lash Chandigarh and surrounding areas. A few private schools in Chandigarh also announced closure for two days. The maximum temperatures at most places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh remained between 31.5 to 38.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday with rainfall at some places and overcast sky at several in others.
Light to moderate rain is expected in the tricity of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said. The day temperature has been predicted to remain around 32-36 Degree Celsuis during the next three days. Chandigarh recorded 1.5 mm rainfall on Sunday.
In view of the Met department issuing a warning of thunderstorm and rain between May 7 and 8, the Haryana government has decided that all government and private schools in the state will remain closed on two days. Panchkula schools will also remain shut on Monday and Tuesday. Until late on Sunday night, Punjab Education department gave no indication it would follow suit. Mohali schools may not shut on Monday.
Here is the IMD update for Himachal Pradesh. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail is likely to hit the hill state today. Director IMD Shimla said several regions may experience heavy rainfall. “Thunderstorm and strong wind warning for May 7 and 8 has been issued for Shimla, Solan, Hamirpur, Mandi, Kangra and Una districts.” he said. On Sunday, Shimla and many parts of the state witnessed scattered rains and thunderstorm as similar conditions is likely to prevail on Monday.
Here is a quick roundup of the events from last week. At least 124 people were killed as storms and heavy rain lashed swathes of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan last Wednesday. Uttar Pradesh was the worst hit with more than 80 deaths. Officials said 90 people were injured while 134 domestic animals were killed in the state. In Rajasthan, 38 people were killed and 211 injured. Head injuries sustained as a result of collapsing houses and falling trees caused most of the deaths. The storms disrupted railway and bus services as well as power connectivity.
Welcome to our live blog. We will keep you updated throughout the day about the changing weather scenario and IMD alerts. As per the latest IMD bulletin, issued on Sunday evening, thunderstorms and high-speed gusty winds are predicted in the northern and north-western region over the next two days. However, there is good news as this time it won't be as storng and devastating like last week. “The current meteorological conditions indicate that the oncoming round of thunderstorms would not be as strong as we saw in the last week,” Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, head of services at IMD, said.