Amid the heavy downpour in Bengaluru, residents of many flood-affected areas have taken to social media to pour out their woes ranging from waterlogging to complaining about "crumbling" infrastructure.
The city went under cloud cover and witnessed incessant rainfall from afternoon, with parts of the city witnessing heavy rains and thunderstorms, civic officials said.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that inducing artificial rain can only be attempted when there are clouds or moisture available.
In August 1998, the observatory had received 261.9 mm rainfall in 24 hours which was a record for the month till now, but Wednesday's rain broke it within only 12 hours.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
IMD Director General M Mohapatra said there is cyclonic circulation along the Karnataka coast which is hindering the progress of the southwest monsoon.
The mercury in Delhi, which recorded its hottest day of the year so far at 45.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, came down to 42.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India meteorological department.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
Hailstorms were reported at various parts of the national capital including Palam, Chilpighat and Ayanagar, the IMD said.
As incessant rains lashed Mumbai and Maharashtra, life was thrown out of gear with delay in train and flight services causing great inconvenience to passengers.
India recorded 125 extremely heavy rainfall events during September and October of 2021, the highest in five years, owing to late withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and higher-than-normal low-pressure systems, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
Unseasonal rain coupled with lightning and thunderstorm lashed parts of Mumbai in the wee hours of Thursday, bringing some respite from the hot and humid weather in the city, civic officials said.
In view of the widespread rains and 'red alert' for extremely heavy showers issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for several districts, control rooms are working round the clock to monitor the situation and help stranded people, he said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) seems to have taken a cautious stand over the World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) projection of a 'poor monsoon' due to a probable 'El Nino' impact. The IMD did not agree with WMO's projections, saying, "El Nino and the progress of monsoon are not mutually exclusive events", and remained non-committal over its earlier projection of a "normal monsoon" for the June-September 2009 season.
At least five people were killed in separate rain-related incidents on Tuesday in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days causing widespread flooding in several residential areas and turning roads into virtual rivers.
The threshold for a heat wave is met when the maximum temperature of a weather station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in coastal areas, and 30 degrees in hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 notches.
The state broadcasters have started the practice, but private news channels may follow suit, a ministry source said.
The country saw 645 events of heavy rainfall and 168 events of very heavy rainfall in November, the highest in the month in five years, the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
The rest of Maharashtra was very likely to get rain and thundershowers in isolated places during this period, the official informed.
Intermittent, widespread rains lashed Chennai and other regions of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday and the India meteorological department said the low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal has turned into a well-marked low pressure area and it is likely to become a depression.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday revised upwards the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent from 7 per cent on rising private consumption and revival of demand in rural areas. Unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) placed India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. "During 2024-25 so far, domestic economic activity has maintained resilience," he said, adding that manufacturing activity continues to gain ground on the back of strengthening domestic demand.
Severe cyclonic storm Tauktae that is hovering over Saurashtra in Gujarat would move north-northeastwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm during next three hours, informed the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Expected to be over 100% of long average period.
The same development would benefit the progress of the north-east monsoon, also known as the 'reverse monsoon'.
The heat wave is likely to impact parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal, the Met office said.
After remaining stationary for several hours over the sea, the cyclonic storm 'Phailin' on Thursday intensified, moving slightly northwest and lay centered at about 850 km southeast of Paradip.
Several major cyclones have hit various parts of India over the last 10 years. Here is a look at the notable among them.
People stood at their places with their phone cameras open but faced trouble capturing aircraft formations due to the layer of fog and smoke cloaking the capital.
Authorities in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have taken a slew of measures to handle the situation arising out of the cyclonic storm, which has led to heavy rainfall in several regions.
Mumbai has received 253.3 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8 am on Friday.
As India's electricity demand soars, the power ministry on Tuesday reviewed the power supply situation to ensure 'zero load shedding' during the summer months. The ministry has drafted plans ranging from delaying planned maintenance of thermal power stations to mandatory operations of imported coal-based and gas-based stations till September. In a series of meetings with industry stakeholders, Union Minister for Power, New, and Renewable Energy R K Singh emphasised the importance of adequate planning to avoid situations where one state has surplus power while another state faces shortages.
The January of 1919 recorded 15 degree Celsius and it remains the warmest January so far. "So January 2021 has also become the warmest in 62 years after 1958," the IMD said.
A mild intensity earthquake with a magnitude of 3.2 on the Richter scale stuck the Koyna dam region in Satara on Monday night, officials said.
The flood-hit religious destinations of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, where rescue operations are underway, would again record heavy rains from Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday. It also predicted "rather heavy showers" in Hemkund Sahib, another religious destination hit by flash floods and heavy rains, from Wednesday.
Southwest monsoon has furthered advanced into some parts of south Arabian Sea
Landslides and flash floods triggered by incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh have paralysed normal life.
Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
The sluggish southwest monsoon, which yielded one of the driest Junes in a century this year, appears disappointing this month as well.
The weather department attributed the unusual heat to the lack of rainfall due to the absence of active western disturbances over north India and any major system over south India.
Tomato prices have been on the boil for more than a month. Data from major cities show that the spike has been between 125 and 150 per cent at the wholesale level. Soaring vegetable prices, including tomatoes, pushed the retail inflation rate to a nine-month high of 5.49 per cent in September, according to government data. Though reports say prices are expected to come down in the next few weeks after supplies improve from Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, how long will the respite last is anybody's guess.
