If you are planning to step out in the coming days, it may be wise to keep an umbrella handy. Several parts of India are likely to witness thunderstorms, rain and even hail, with weather activity expected to intensify over the next few days.
The impact will not be uniform. These weather systems are typically patchy, meaning some areas may see heavy rain and storms while nearby regions remain largely unaffected. However, conditions are favourable enough across multiple regions for authorities to issue alerts and advisories.
The system behind all of this is a Western Disturbance, a moisture-carrying weather system from the Mediterranean Sea that triggers rain, thunder and hail across North India during winter and spring.
A powerful one swept through on April 3 and 4, and its tail end is still unsettling conditions tonight, giving Delhi that strange August-in-April feeling: cool air, heavy cloud cover and the occasional rumble instead of the scorching heat you would normally expect this time of year.
WHICH PARTS OF DELHI-NCR ARE MOST LIKELY TO SEE RAIN TONIGHT?
Gurgaon, South Delhi, Faridabad and Noida are among the areas most likely to see activity tonight.
On April 4, strong thunderstorm cells developed west of Gurgaon and pushed short, intense bursts of rain and hail through exactly these areas.
A similar pattern is possible tonight. Roughly 50 to 60 per cent of NCR is expected to stay dry.
Today's showers are just the opening act. A far more powerful Western Disturbance is now approaching and is expected to unleash massive hailstorms across a vast swathe of the country between April 7 and 9.
The system is forecast to affect Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, northern Madhya Pradesh and northeast India, covering roughly 30 to 40 per cent of India's total area.
Farmers across these states who have standing wheat ready to harvest are being urgently advised to cut their crop before April 6.
The damage from the previous system was already severe; golf-ball-sized hail wiped out wheat fields across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on April 3 and 4.
Another round of that scale, or worse, is on its way.
Today is not the worst of it. Another strong Western Disturbance is approaching and is forecast to hit the plains between April 7 and 10, bringing heavier rain, thundershowers and hail.
Farmers across Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, already devastated by golf-ball-sized hail that flattened wheat fields on April 3 and 4, are being urgently advised to harvest any ready crop before Monday, April 6.
After April 8 to 10, the disturbances will ease and summer will return with a vengeance.
The second half of April will be dry and intensely hot.
