After stormy weather in the past 24-hours in North India, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an Orange alert for Northwest India, including the Delhi-NCR region, as well as East and Central India, for the next four days. The regions are expected to experience heavy rainfall, accompanied by lightning, hailstorms, and strong winds, occur throughout the week.
Following it, the IMD has issued an agromet advisory to protect crops and orchards. They also urged residents of vulnerable regions, particularly in urban and hilly areas to take necessary precautions before the hazardous weather.
In the past 24-hours, Delhi's Safdarjung station recorded 77 mm of rainfall, marking the second-highest amount of rainfall for May since 1901. The highest was 119.3 mm, recorded on May 20, 2021, at the Safdarjung Airport.
This recent rainfall was associated with the remnants of the "Tauktae" cyclone that crossed the Gujarat coast. After significant downpours along with thunderstorms, minimum temperatures in Delhi-NCR dropped by as much as 8°C, and it has been predicted that maximum temperatures in Delhi-NCR will be below normal by 1-3°C in the coming days.
The IMD reports that multiple weather systems are currently in place, leading to continued rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning in the region. A combination of a western disturbance and a series of cyclonic circulations over Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana has created hazardous weather conditions across large areas of North India.
These weather systems are expected to remain active throughout the week. In some areas, there may be dust storms and isolated hailstorms, particularly in parts of Rajasthan.
In addition to Northwest India, multiple weather systems are present over Central and Eastern India, resulting in widespread rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning. The IMD's advisory notes the existence of a cyclonic system over Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, as well as a trough running from Punjab to North Kerala. Furthermore, another cyclonic circulation is located over northern Bangladesh at lower and middle tropospheric levels.
All these systems are anticipated to bring rain across the country in the coming days, indicating active pre-monsoon showers and causing unseasonal rainfall.
“This unseasonal rain is expected to be beneficial for upcoming crops, as it will help replenish soil moisture during a typically dry period,” said Mahesh Palawat of Skymet Weather, a private weather agency.
In its agromet advisory, IMD advised to drain out excess water from standing crops in Odisha, Kerala and Karnataka whereas it advised use of hail nets and caps to prevent damage in vegetables and orchards in Sikkim, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha. For livestock, it advised to keep animals inside shed during rainfall and hailstorm and feed and fodders at safe place.
Additionally, residents should monitor the weather and be prepared to move to safer areas if conditions worsen.