Even as Mumbaikars got some respite from the downpour on Friday morning, the India meteorological department has issued a red alert for the city and its suburbs warning that very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places during the day, the civic officials said.
Heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Kerala on Thursday, leading to waterlogging in the low-lying areas of major cities, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Thrissur.
Heavy rain continued to lash Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, bringing residential neighborhoods and roads under knee-deep water and leading to traffic congestion besides affecting public transport services.
Villpuram district in north Tamil Nadu continued to reel under unprecedented flooding on Monday following extremely heavy rainfall, virtually blocking access to villages and residential colonies as bridges and roads overflowed, inundating huge acreage of standing crops and leaving passengers stranded as rail and road traffic was hit.
Data released by the IMD on Thursday showed that the mean minimum temperature (MMT) this December was 7.1 degrees Celsius.
It is in more than a decade that the IMD has predicted 'above-normal' rains in the country.
The very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae is likely to intensify during the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast on Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
On June 2, wind speed will reach 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 over south Gujarat coast, with sea condition very likely to be "rough to very rough". On June 3-4, squally wind speed will reach 90-100 kmph gusting 110 kmph over Gujarat coasts, and the sea condition is very likely to be high to very high.
He said scientists have noticed a trend of very deep cloud systems developing over the southeast Arabian Sea, and added that sometimes, these systems intrude into the land, like in 2019.
The rest of Maharashtra was very likely to get rain and thundershowers in isolated places during this period, the official informed.
The India meteorological department has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and other coastal districts in Maharashtra, stating it is very likely that 'heavy to very heavy' rainfall will occur in isolated places in this region.
After making landfall near Puducherry on November 30, Cyclone Fengal weakened on Sunday, but torrential downpour under its influence paralysed the union territory, with the Army stepping in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets.
Incessant rain with intermittent heavy spells led to waterlogging on some roads and railway tracks, slowing down the public transport services.
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.
Delhi's air quality deteriorated significantly on Monday, with areas like Dwarka, Mundka and Najafgarh recording an AQI of 500, the worst this season. The city's overall AQI reached 491, triggering the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage-IV restrictions in Delhi-NCR. Doctors warned of health risks, urging people to wear N95 masks and avoid outdoor activities. The Supreme Court questioned the Delhi government on its anti-pollution measures and warned against scaling down preventive measures without its permission. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the BJP-led central government of political maneuvering while neglecting stubble burning in states it governs. Meanwhile, the city enforced stricter pollution control measures, including a ban on truck entry and suspension of construction activities. Air purifier sales surged, reflecting the public's concern over the severe air pollution.
A well-marked low-pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Thursday morning packing wind speed of 40-50 kmph as it moved towards the north Tamil Nadu coast, the weather office said.
The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression.
The weather office has issued a forecast of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in several districts of Gujarat over the next one week.
The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi, predicting 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall in parts of the capital with winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour.
The India meteorological department predicted mainly clear skies with heatwave conditions in many parts of Delhi and severe heat wave conditions in other areas.
The administration is geared up for more showers as the India meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy rains in several districts of the state till Thursday morning.
India will receive normal monsoon this season, country's meteorological department said on Wednesday in its forecast for the Southwest monsoon that covers 75 per cent of the country, and thereby may bring much-needed respite to the economy, which is reeling under the catastrophic effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A sudden downpour in Delhi caught citizens off guard and caused heavy waterlogging and traffic jams on Tuesday while Mumbai breathed a sigh of relief as showers stopped a day after heavy rain brought the metropolis to its knees.
The minimum temperature in the national capital on Saturday settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, it said.
The bounteous monsoon this year has already dumped 1159.4 mm of rainfall in Delhi till Thursday afternoon, the highest since 1964 and the third-highest ever, according to the IMD data
As weather patterns grow more unpredictable due to climate crisis, India is taking a giant leap with "Mission Mausam" to improve weather understanding and forecasting through expanded observation networks, better modeling and advanced tools like AI and machine learning.
To ensure immediate cooling of the body, the hospital has set up a first-of-its-kind heatstroke unit.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
The storm would continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach north Bay of Bengal near West Bengal and the adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts by the morning of May 26
Gross Value Added (GVA) growth in agriculture and allied activities in the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year (Q1FY25) dipped to 2.7 per cent at constant prices from 4.2 per cent in Q1FY24 due to a drop in output of some crops following heatwave in the main growing months. Low post-monsoon rains, which dried most of the reservoirs in several states across the country, also impacted the production of many crops. At current prices, the growth was estimated at 8.5 per cent as against 4.1 per cent in Q1FY24 due to a spike in food inflation during the April to June months of FY25.
The IMD issued a 'red alert' for Pune district and asked people to take precautions.
Cyclone Tauktae weakened into a 'depression' and lay centred over south Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department said.
There is a definite attempt to put the landslides on the backburner because news of them and climate change worry Wayanad's tourism and real estate businesses greatly. Whatever I experienced of Wayanad's 2024 by-elections; the July landslides were not a burning issue, observes Shyam G Menon.
Ten to 20 days of heatwave are expected against the normal of four to eight days in the entire April-June period.
Skymet lowered its full season monsoon forecast to 'below normal' from 'normal', while the IMD is sticking to its earlier forecast that rains in June to September of 2018 would be 'normal' at 97 per cent of the LPA with a model error of +/-5 per cent.
Cold-day conditions prevailed in parts of north India on Friday though the maximum temperatures rose slightly amid clear skies and sunshine during the day.
The maximum temperature on Saturday settled at 18.1 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average, and the minimum was recorded at 3.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season's average, the IMD said.
Satellite imagery showed a layer of dense fog extending from Punjab and north Rajasthan to the northeast. Patches of fog were also visible along the east coast.
India's crucial monsoon will be normal this year but with less heavier rains as the weather office on Friday marginally downgraded its earlier forecast.
The situation in rain-battered Gujarat improved slightly on Thursday as the rainfall activity subsided, but Vadodara and some other parts of the state are still reeling under a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers while the authorities continue the rescue and relief operations.
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