Weather Forecast Today HIGHLIGHTS: Moderate to heavy rains likely in Delhi-NCR

Assam floods : A total of six people have lost their lives due to flood in the districts of Nalbari, Barpeta, Dhubri, Morigaon and Golaghat in the last 24 hours. In this season, a total of 75 people have lost their lives in flood and 2 people in landslide. (ANI)

Rains in large parts of Jammu and a heavily overcast sky in Kashmir on Wednesday evening brought relief to the residents from hot and humid weather conditions.

The Meteorological Department has also issued a 'yellow' weather warning for rain or thundershowers over Jammu and Kashmir divisions for the next three days.

The maximum temperature in Jammu was 36.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the weather department said. While the humidity levels in the city oscillated between 81 per cent and 69 per cent. (PTI)

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed deputy commissioners to be prepared for "heavy to very heavy rain" at isolated places in the state.

"Heavy rain is likely at isolated places in the state on July 24 and 26 and heavy to very heavy rain on July 25," said the MeT forecast issued on Wednesday.

The MeT has issued a similar warning for Haryana for the same period.

A few parts of Punjab, including Sangrur and Patiala districts, witnessed flood-like situation after heavy rains lashed last week. Bathinda city remained inundated even after the rains had eased.

Meanwhile, sultry conditions prevailed at most places in Punjab and Haryana during the day. (PTI)

West Bengal: Villagers in flood-affected Cooch Behar use makeshift boats to reach from one part of the village to the other. pic.twitter.com/sEChz9b9ip

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019

#WeatherForecast: Moderate to heavy #rains with one or two very heavy spells is expected over parts of #Punjab, #Haryana, West #UttarPradesh, parts of East #Rajasthan, #Delhi, #Konkan and #Goa, and Coastal #Karnataka.https://t.co/ARrCUAzVRK

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 24, 2019

Skymet weather forecast: Moderate to heavy rains with one or two very heavy spells is expected over parts of Punjab, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh, parts of East Rajasthan, Delhi, Konkan and Goa, and Coastal Karnataka.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls very likely at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and Bihar; Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Konkan & Goa, Saurashtra & Kutch, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Assam & Meghalaya and heavy rainfall at isolated places over Kerala, Lakshadweep, Coastal & South Interior Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, South Gujarat, North Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, North East Rajasthan, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura.

Strong winds, speed reaching 40-50 kmph, are likely to prevail over southwest & west central Arabian Sea. Rough to very rough sea conditions are very likely to prevail along & off South Tamilnadu Coast. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

Lightning rarely hits people directly — but such strikes are almost always fatal.

People are most commonly struck by what are called “ground currents”. The electrical energy, after hitting a large object (such as a tree) on Earth, spreads laterally on the ground for some distance, and people in this area receive electrical shocks.

It becomes more dangerous if the ground is wet (which it frequently is because of the accompanying rain), or if there is metal or other conducting material on it. Water is a conductor, and many people are struck by lightning while standing in flooded paddy fields.

The Met office routinely issues warnings for thunderstorms. But this is a very generic advisory, and for locations that are very large in area.

Predicting a thunderstorm over a pinpointed location is not possible. Nor is it possible to predict the exact time of a likely lightning strike.

For reasons given above, taking shelter under a tree is dangerous. Lying flat on the ground too, can increase risks. People should move indoors in a storm; however, even indoors, they should avoid touching electrical fittings, wires, metal, and water.

It is more common than is sometimes realised in urban areas. As a whole, India sees 2,000-2,500 lightning deaths every year on average. Lightning is the biggest contributor to accidental deaths due to natural causes. A few years ago, over 300 people were reported killed by lightning in just three days — a number that surprised officials and scientists.

And yet, lightning remains among the least studied atmospheric phenomena in the country. Just one group of scientists, at the Indian Institute of Tropical Management (IITM) in Pune, works full-time on thunderstorms and lightning

Occurrences of lightning are not tracked in India, and there is simply not enough data for scientists to work with. Often, safety measures and precautions against lightning strikes do not receive as much publicity as other natural disasters such as earthquakes.

Several thousand thunderstorms occur over India every year. Each can involve several — sometimes more than a hundred — lightning strikes. Dr Sunil Pawar of IITM says incidents of lightning have been showing an increasing trend over the last 20 years, especially near the Himalayan foothills.

Twenty-nine people have been killed by lightning over the past 36 hours in Bihar. The most deaths have occurred in Jamui -- eight. Earlier, 11 people were killed by lightning on July 20. Why and how -- and how frequently -- does lightning kill in India? Read Express Explained here

IMD weather update July 24:

Strong winds, speed reaching 40-50 kmph, are likely to prevail over southwest & west-central the Arabian Sea. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) tweets a photo collage with items one must have during a flood situation.

#Flooding #MumbaiRains #Monsoon2019 #urbanflood #Assam #Arunachal #UttarPradesh #HimachalPradesh #Uttarakhand #Jharkhand #Bihar #AssamFloods pic.twitter.com/IHLexYBzOM

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) July 24, 2019

24 July: Thunderstorm accompanied by lightning very likely at isolated places over Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal & Sikkim.

IMD

— NDMA India (@ndmaindia) July 24, 2019

Deputy Director General of Meteorology, India Met Department, Mumbai in a tweet wrote:

Last six hours rainfall situation in Mumbai and latest Radar image...indicating wide spread intense rainfall activity in Suburbs and around areas.
Suburban, Thane, Navi Mumbai Palghar areas; Rainfall likely to continue more.
Warnings are in place.
Do take care.... pic.twitter.com/4Ap8sh2uMh

— K S Hosalikar (@Hosalikar_KS) July 24, 2019

At least 29 people have been killed by lightning in the last 36 hours across Bihar. This is the biggest casualty this season. Earlier, 11 people were killed by lightning on July 20.

While Jamui district reported eight deaths, seven people were struck dead by lightning in Aurangabad on Tuesday. Banka district also reported five deaths. Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Sasaram also reported two deaths each while one person each was killed in Munger, Arwal and Katihar.

The state government has announced Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia compensation to the next kin of each victim. Bihar disaster management department has been advertising about precautions to escape lightning. People have been asked to avoid working in fields during rains.

Rainfall forecast across India for the next 24 hours in graphical presentation. Mumbai is receiving heavy rains as bus and train services have been affected due to heavy downpour in city's western suburbs.

#Rainfall forecast across #India for the next 24 hours in graphical presentation. #MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/f7daKNPX5j

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 24, 2019

West Bengal: Water logging in Siliguri after heavy rains in the region. It has been raining heavily in this part of the country, with several incidents of landslides reported from Siliguri and Darjeeling.

West Bengal: Water logging in Siliguri after heavy rains in the region. pic.twitter.com/c8vZOaNUJw

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019

Delhiites woke up to a humid Wednesday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 29.2 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average. Humidity was recorded at 73 per cent at 8.30 am. The weatherman has forecast light to moderate rains with thunderstorm for the day. The maximum temperature is likely to settle at 37 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature likely to hover around 27 degrees Celsius. On Tuesday, the city recorded a high of 37.6 degrees Celsius and a low of 28.2 degrees Celsius. (PTI)

* In the last 24 hours, Siliguri in West Bengal has been the rainiest place in India with 181 mm of rainfall.

* Bikaner in Rajasthan has turned out to be the hottest city in India with its maximum temperatures settling at 42.4° C.

* Gujarat: Cities like Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Amreli and Vadodara may also receive on and off light rain activities for the next two to three days.

Rain intensity would decrease over Colaba, Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Thane during next 2-3 hours, while it will continue with intermittent good spell over Santacruz, Bhiwandi, Vasai and Mira Bhayander during next 1-2 hours, according to Skymet.

Maharashtra: Roads waterlogged in King's Circle area of Mumbai, following heavy rains in the city

Maharashtra: Roads waterlogged in King's Circle area of Mumbai, following heavy rains in the city. pic.twitter.com/PaZe4WDgWe

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019

Roads in Sion area were left water-logged after heavy rainfall in the city. Vehicles were seen plying slowly on the water-logged roads.

#MumbaiRains: Roads in Sion area water-logged, after heavy rainfall in the city. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/iM9lOsOIk4

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019

Eight people were injured after three cars collided with each other in Andheri due to low visibility following heavy rainfall in the city.

Mumbai: 8 injured after three cars collided with each other in Andheri, due to low visibility following heavy rainfall in the city, early morning today. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/Ts2srOqxd3

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2019

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rains at isolated places in the city and suburbs for today. Heavy showers will continue for the next two days, IMD has warned.

Karnataka: Red alert (heavy rains) issued in Udupi & Kodagu districts for today & tomorrow. Schools & colleges to remain closed in Udupi today, reports ANI.

Central Railway Public Relations Officer (CR PRO): Suburban train services are running on all four corridors of Central Railway. However, there's a delay of 10 to 15 minutes on main line between Kurla and Sion, due to water logging in low lying areas of this section, reports news agency ANI.

Rainfall recorded:

Island City (CT): Colaba-166 mm, Malbar hill- 164 mm, D Ward- 162 mm, Eye Hosp-158 mm, C Ward-152 mm

Eastern suburbs (ES): Chembur Fire Stn-102 mm, L Ward-92 mm, Kurla-82 mm, M/W Ward-81 mm.

Western Suburbs (WS): Bandra- 134 mm, H/W Wad-121 mm, Vile Parle-102 mm

Tree/Branches Fall Complaints: CT-1 , ES-Nil, WS-1

Railway Traffic: Central Railway 15 to 20 minutes late

BEST Diversion:
1) Hindmata Cinema Via Hindmata Flyover

2) Sion Road No 24 via road No.3

3) Gandhi Market via Bridge & Bhau Daji Lad Marg

4) Alankar Talkies to Bhendi Bazar via Don Taki to J J Hosp

5)Pratiksha Nagar Via Jayshankar Yaganik Marg

6) Goregaon Siddharth Hosp Via Gajanan Maharaj Chowk

7) S V Road National College via Link Road

#Mumbai Doppler Radar shows 20.97% cloud build-up in Mumbai. #MumbaiRains #MumbaiRain #MumbaiRainsLiveUpdates pic.twitter.com/ublt0SWsNX

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 24, 2019

Latest satellite imagery- a cloud mass in Arabian Sea near Mumbai. Intense rainfall in Mumbai whole night. (171 mm at Colaba and 58 at Scz till 5.30 am). Very likely to continue for next few hours.

Latest satellite imagery, a cloud mass in arabian sea near Mumbai.
Intense rainfall in Mumbai whole night. (171 mm at Colaba and 58 at Scz till 5.30 am)
Very likely to continue for next few hrs.
Mrng traves ,pl chk for weather updates and other crucial updates.@CPMumbaiPolice pic.twitter.com/HEzjHwwsGH

— K S Hosalikar (@Hosalikar_KS) July 24, 2019

IMD forecast at 0800 hrs: Intermittent rain/shower with heavy rainfall in Mumbai and suburbs

Today’s low tide 0947 hrs- 1.96 mtr, high tide 1631 hrs – 3.74 mtr, Low Tide 2255 hrs – 1.66mtr

Next High Tide (25.07.2019)- 0526 hrs-3.20 mtr

Widespread heavy rainfall over Mumbai city and suburbs and around in last 12 hours about. Rainfall continues. Colaba 171 mm. Santacruz 58 mm

Widespread heavy rainfall over Mumbai city and suburbs and around in last 12 hours about.
Rainfall continues.
Colaba 171 mm
Santacruz 58 mm
TC pic.twitter.com/oPeAHnd9NT

— K S Hosalikar (@Hosalikar_KS) July 24, 2019

Goregaon Siddharth Hospital Traffic Diverted via Gajanan Maharaj Chowk - (Diversion has been Restored)

Goregaon Siddharth Hospital Traffic Diverted via Gajanan Maharaj Chowk - (Diversion has been Restored)

— ???? Mumbai, ???? BMC (@mybmc) July 24, 2019

Alankar Talkies to Bhendi Bazaar traffic diverted via Don Taki to JJ Hospital. SV Road National College traffic diverted via Link Road. BMC has advised Mumbai citizens to carefully plan their routes, considering traffic diversions due to hevy rains.

Traffic Diversion Updates #Monsoon2019 #MCGMUpdates #MumbaiRains #SafeMonsoon pic.twitter.com/0x4T4t605D

— ???? Mumbai, ???? BMC (@mybmc) July 24, 2019