A wet and rough Monday is on the cards for large parts of India. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued warnings for heavy rain, hailstorms, thunderstorms and strong gusty winds across northwest, northeast and central India today.
The weather system driving all this chaos is a western disturbance, currently parked as an upper-air cyclonic circulation over northern Iran and the adjoining Caspian Sea.
A fresh western disturbance is also expected to push into northwest India from April 2, keeping the unsettled spell going.
Yes, and significantly so. The IMD has warned of isolated heavy rainfall and snowfall over the Kashmir Valley on Monday.
Fairly widespread light to moderate rain and snow, with thunderstorms and winds reaching 30 to 50 kilometres per hour, are likely across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Hailstorms are a real risk over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and East Rajasthan on both Sunday and Monday.
Delhi will wake up to a partly cloudy sky that is expected to turn generally overcast through the afternoon.
The IMD forecasts very light rain or drizzle with thunderstorms and lightning during the afternoon and evening.
Maximum temperatures are likely to hover between 28 and 30 degrees Celsius, below normal for this time of year, while minimums are expected between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius, slightly above normal.
Independent weather expert Navdeep Dahiya had flagged on Sunday that while Punjab would be hit the hardest by dust storms of 50 to 75 kilometres per hour alongside moderate to heavy rain, Haryana and Delhi-NCR would largely be spared anything major beyond isolated storms and a brief downpour.
Not anytime soon, according to independent weather experts.
Dahiya noted that frequent western disturbances are expected to keep temperatures two to five degrees Celsius below normal across northwest and central India at least until April 20, 2026, making an early heatwave unlikely.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya are under IMD alert for isolated heavy rainfall between March 30 and April 1.
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are likely to face heavy rain on March 30 specifically.
Hailstorm activity is additionally expected over Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh on March 31, with farmers in these regions advised to harvest mature crops immediately and move produce to safe, covered storage.
The IMD has also warned fishermen not to venture into the southeastern Bay of Bengal and parts of the Arabian Sea along, and off the Oman coast.
