Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are likely to witness thunderstorms accompanied with squall, while parts of Rajasthan might see dust storms over the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.
A new western disturbance from Monday is expected to cause thunderstorms over the hill States, and their subsequent effect on the plains in northern India.
Thunderstorms accompanied with squall, with wind speeds reaching 50-70 km per hour are “very likely” at isolated places over east Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, the IMD advisory said.
“Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds is also very likely at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Vidharbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Kerala,” it said.
Heat wave conditions are very likely at one or two pockets in Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh and Vidharbha.
Several States in north India have witnessed erratic weather patterns over the past fortnight. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan alone have witnessed over 120 deaths due to thunderstorms and violent winds in the first week of May.
Dust storms hit Punjab
Dust storms hit some parts of Punjab on Saturday, throwing life out of gear, with Chandigarh and its adjoining areas witnessing rains. Ludhiana and Phagwara witnessed dust storms followed by showers.
Some places were completely dark in the afternoon. There were reports of disrupted power supply, and uprooting of trees and plants.
However, the maximum temperature at most of the places in both States stayed several notches above normal. Hisar in Haryana baked at 45 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, while Bhiwani and Narnaul experienced heat wave conditions at 44 and 44.4 degrees Celsius respectively.
