IMD warns of severe heatwaves in nine north Indian states on Mar 29; rainfall in northeast

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of severe heatwave conditions, on March 28, in parts over West Rajasthan whereas areas over Jammu Division, Himachal Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Madhya Pradesh, Vidharbha and Gujarat are likely to experience heat waves in isolated pockets. In the northeast, regions in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura will experience thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds. Uttar Pradesh is also very likely to experience strong surface winds between 25-25 kilometers per hour on March 28.

IMD's weather forecast up to March 31

According to the IMD, light to moderately isolated to scattered rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds (30-40 kmph) is very likely over Northeast India over the next 3 days. These conditions are said to intensify after three days. In addition to this, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala are expected to face similar conditions with lightning at isolated places. 

On March 29, west Rajasthan would again face severe heatwave conditions whereas low-intensity heatwaves would prevail in regions over Jammu Division, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, south Punjab, south Haryana, east Rajasthan, west Vidharbha, Bihar, Jharkhand, central Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Similar conditions would be experienced in the regions on March 30 in addition to south Haryana and southeast Uttar Pradesh. March 30 would also bring scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds with speeds between 40-50 kilometres per hour in the northeast region. States of Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh are predicted to experience isolated heavy rainfall on March 31, as per IMD. 

March 31 would again bring heatwave conditions to Bihar, Jharkhand, south Punjab, south Haryana, southeast Uttar Pradesh, central Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. On the same day, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are likely to experience thunderstorms with heavy rainfall in isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. According to IMD, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Kerala would also see thunderstorms with lightning in isolated places on March 31. 

Image: PTI