Low pressure idles in Bay, thunderstorms raid mainland

Fading prospects of a cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal any time soon have prompted weathermen to shift focus to the ongoing pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity over mainland India. North-West India is now joining East and North-East India and the South Peninsula as a hotspot of violent weather activity.

An incoming western disturbance has reached West Pakistan en route North-West India; a cyclonic circulation hovers over Haryana from which a West-to-East trough has emerged, extending all the way across to North-East Bangladesh. It cuts through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, rendering them potential areas of volatile pre-monsoon weather.

Thundersqualls, hailstorm

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the hot westerlies overland converged with the moist easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal on Sunday to cause scattered to widespread rain/thundershowers over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Thundersqualls and hailstorm also popped up at isolated places over the region. Similar weather is likely to continue here during the next three days.

The outlook for the next three to four days for East and North-East is fairly widespread to widespread rain/thundershowers over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, hills of West Bengal and Sikkim. It would be scattered to fairly widespread rain/thundershowers over Odisha, plains of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Thundersqualls (wind speeds of 50-60 km/hr) and hailstorm are likely at isolated places.

Heat wave for Vidarbha, Telangana

As for the South Peninsula, isolated to scattered rain/thundershowers have been forecast for the region during the next 4-5 days. Significantly, the IMD has indicated that heat wave conditions may prevail over Vidarbha during the next three days and over Telangana, for two days. This would come about as the anticyclone (hot, sinking air) over the Arabian Sea brings to bear dry winds from North-West India.

The forecast for tomorrow (Tuesday) said that heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Thunderstorms would be the main theme of the emerging weather over the rest of the regions to the accompaniment of lightning, gusty winds, squalls, and hail, the IMD said with region-specific outlook.

Lightning, hail warning

So, lightning, hail and squall (wind speeds reaching 50-60 km/hr) are forecast over the hills and plains over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand; lightning, hail and gusty winds (40-50 km/hr) over the hills of West Bengal, Sikkim and Odisha; lightning, hail and gusty winds (30-40 km/hr) over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and East Rajasthan; lightning and squall (50-60 km/hr) over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura; lightning and gusty winds (40-50 km/hr) over Bihar; lightning and gusty winds (30-40 km/hr) over West Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala; lightning over East Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Konkan, Goa, Telangana and North Interior Karnataka.