IMD predicts heavy to very heavy rains in several parts of north India today

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast "heavy to very heavy rains" on Monday in parts of north India, which continue to suffer from the unforgiving heatwave. The IMD prediction is for Uttarakhand, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and national capital Delhi.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius, three degrees over the season’s average while the minimum temperature settled at 28.8 degrees Celsius.

Earlier, the IMD had stated that the Southwest Monsoon would arrive in parts of North India on July 10, but it did not occur till Sunday evening.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, the Gujarat region, Madhya Maharashtra, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Telangana, coastal and south interior Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal,” the IMD said in its bulletin. Thunderstorms along with lightning and gusty (30-40 kmph) winds are likely over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Chandigarh, the bulletin added.

The IMD has also issued alerts for several states in north India and a red warning for parts of Maharashtra, which was severely affected by the impact of Cyclone Tauktae in May.

Heavy rainfall is also expected in isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan, Sikkim, Odisha, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, West Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Lakshadweep, north interior Karnataka, the weather department’s bulletin showed. Of these, Andaman and Nicobar islands is likely to experience thunderstorms along with lightning and gusty winds.

On Monday morning, lighting at isolated places is also expected over J&K, Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Assam, Puducherry, Nagaland, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, coastal Andhra Pradesh, central Maharashtra, Rajasthan etc.

(With PTI inputs)