New Delhi: Rains lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana on Sunday morning, and more showers are expected in the region over the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. It said downpour was recorded at several places in the twin states between 5.30 pm on Saturday and 8.30 am on Sunday.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh, which is the common capital of Punjab and Haryana, received 20.6 mm rainfall, while its adjoining areas, including Mohali and Panchkula, also received showers, the weather office said. In Haryana, Sirsa received a heavy downpour of 101.4 mm, while Dabwali received 62 mm rain. Among other places, Narwana recorded 32 mm downpour, Ratia in Fatehabad 52 mm, Ambala 28.6 mm, Hansi 20 mm, Jhajjar 19 mm, Narnaul 16 mm and Rohtak 14.8 mm, the Met said.
In Punjab, Bathinda received 49.4 mm rainfall, Faridkot 24.4 mm, Hoshiarpur 23 mm, Adampur 17.2 mm, Muktsar 51 mm, Balachaur 19.1 mm, Rajpura 57.6 mm, Ludhiana 15 mm and Jalandhar 10 mm. According to the weather office forecast, light to moderate rain and thundershowers are likely in many parts of Haryana and Punjab on June 14 and 15.
Monsoon showers in Bihar
The southwest monsoon has finally hit Bihar through Darbhanga district and the IMD has predicted continuous rainfall in the state for the next 72 hours. As per reports, many parts in the state have been receiving incessant rainfall since Saturday which is expected to continue till May 15. In the wake of this, the IMD has issued the yellow code alert. The yellow code alert stipulates that the authorities should be prepared for extreme weather development.
According to the daily bulletin issued, Bhabhua recorded 120 mm rain, Darbhanga 60mm, Darbhanga 60mm and Samastipur, Buxar and Khagaria 40mm each.
Rain brings respite to people from heat in Jammu
A spell of early morning rain on Sunday provided relief to the people from scorching heat in Jammu, where the minimum temperature plummeted five notches below the season's average to settle at 20.6 degrees Celsius. Jammu recorded 37.6 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours till 0830 am on Sunday, Meteorological (MeT) department officials said. They predicted fairly widespread light to moderate rain or thundershowers till Tuesday.
Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district, received a maximum rainfall of 46 mm and recorded a minimum temperature of 18.7 degrees Celsius, the officials said. They said 32.8 mm rainfall was witnessed in Banihal town along Jammu-Srinagar national highway from 6 am to 7 am. The night temperature in the town dropped to 14.4 degrees Celsius.
Thunderstorms, rain to continue in Tamil Nadu till June 16
Thunderstorms and rain will continue to lash several districts of Tamil Nadu till June 16, according to the Meteorological Department. Kanyakumari and several other interior districts of the state are expected to get medium to heavy rains followed by thunderstorms.
The Department said that some other districts of the state would continue with its dry weather and after June 16, there will be a break from the rains and thunderstorms for the whole state.
Officials of the Department said that if the low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal weakens, easterly winds would begin to prevail and convective activity may revive in coastal areas. This would trigger rains. The state has been recording an average of 2.4 cm rains since June 1 since the arrival of the southwest monsoon.
Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal to witness heavy rains
The IMD said that conditions are favourable for further advancement of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Madhya Pradesh, remaining parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and some parts of east Uttar Pradesh during the next 24 hours. The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Northwest Bay of Bengal, some parts of Odisha, most parts of West Bengal and some parts of Jharkhand and Bihar.
The IMD further predicted widespread rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy falls over coastal and adjoining Ghats districts of Maharashtra and Goa and Karnataka during next 5 days.
IMD downgrades rain alert for Mumbai and Thane
However, the IMD on Saturday evening downgraded its "red alert" warning of "extremely heavy rain" in Mumbai and the neighbouring Thane district for the next two days. The warning has been now changed to "orange alert", which means "heavy to very heavy rain".
"Extremely heavy rainfall belt has shifted southwards. So warnings are downgraded. Still, IMD expects heavy to very heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs," said Shubhangi Bhute, deputy director, IMD Mumbai.
Earlier, IMD Mumbai had sounded a red alert for Mumbai and Thane districts along with Raigad and Ratnagiri districts in Konkan predicting "thunderstorms with lightning, gusty winds and extremely heavy rain at isolated places."
But it issued a revised forecast, which retained the red alert for Raigad and Ratnagiri but downgraded it for Mumbai and Thane.
(With inputs from agencies)
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