Thunderstorm LIVE updates: Heavy rainfall hits Chandigarh
Several parts of north India including Delhi are likely to witness witness thunderstorm and squall today with winds gusting up to 50-70 kilometres per hour, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The weather department said that the thunderstorms are likely to hit several parts of north India till Friday since the mountains of Himachal Pradesh have received fresh snowfall.
Monday's thunderstorms claimed two lives -- a 60-year-old woman in Tripura and an 11-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri. Heavy rains and squall damaged several houses, and also snapped electrci lines and uprooted a number of trees. A woman and a child were killed in separate incidents of house collapse and 15 others injured when high-velocity winds swept across the Porsa town in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.
As a precautionary measure, Haryana ordered the school to remain closed for May 7 and 8 (yesterday and today), while Delhi government shut down evening shifts of the schools for today. In Ghaziabad and Meerut, all the public and private schools and colleges are closed today.
As it happened:
08:01 pm: According to reports, thunderstorm accompanied with rains will hit Delhi NCR and adjoining regions at around 10:00 pm today.
08:00 pm: Thunderstorm with rain and gusty winds would occur over and adjoining areas of most parts of Delhi and NCR including Bhiwani, Rohtak, Bagpat, Panipat, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor in the next two hours: IMD
07:45 pm:
07:28 pm: Incessant snowfall since last night in Kedarnath and Badrinath, coupled with rains and landslide in Lambagad disrupted pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrines for hours today, with the authorities preventing devotees from moving beyond Linchauli and Bhimbali.
07:24 pm: Thunderstorm with rain and strong winds would occur over NCR including Hisar, Kaithal, Jind, Kurukshetra, Karnal during next two hours: IMD
07:00 pm:
06:15 pm: Rain and hail storm hit Haryana's Karnal, Fatehabad and Kurukshetra areas. Electricity supply has been affected as well. Private weather forecaster Skymet tweeted that thunderstorms and lighting were reported across the country.
"Light to moderate lightning strikes and thunderstorm patches over North Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand near Chandigarh, Shimla, and Dehradun," Skymet said.
05:30 pm: The Met department predicts thunderstorm accompanied with squall and hail very likely at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
A thunderstorm accompanied with squall is very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh.
Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds is also expected at isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal & Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, West Madhya Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, South Interior Karnataka, Odisha, north Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
05:00 pm: Rains resume in Badrinath's Joshimath in Uttarkahand. Tourists en route to Badrinath have been advised to stay away and roads have been blocked by inclement weather.
Rains and hailstorm lash Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hail pelted cars and roads and no damage was reported.
04:30 pm: Hailstorm and rain lash Shimla. "In last 24 hours, rain has been recorded in all parts of Himachal Pradesh. Even today some parts might receive rainfall and hailstorm. Both Shimla and Kangra received hailstorm today.", said the Met department.
04:15 pm:
04:04 pm:
03:58 pm: Heavy rain is very likely at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Tamil Nadu, south interior Karnataka and Kerala, according to IMD reports.
03:31 pm: According to J P Gupta, UP weather department chief, eastern and western UP are likely to witness thunderstorm accompanied by dusty winds in the next 24 hours.
02:20 pm:
02:11 pm: Thunderstorm and hailstorm alert issued for Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh districts for the next few hours.
02:08 pm:
11:00 am:
10:24 am:
10:20 am: Alert for heavy snowfall issued for Himachal Jammu and Kashmir and Uttrakhand
10:19 am: Uttarakhand: Former CM Harish Rawat, Congress MP Pradeep Tamta, local MLA Manoj Rawat and other Congress leaders stuck in Kedarnath following heavy snowfall in the area.
10:17 am: Delhi secretariat to hold a high-level meeting on possible thunderstorm. Delhi Police has also issued helplines - 1095 and 011-25844444. Schools in second shifts to remain closed.
09:06 am: Haridwar DM orders schools to remain shut on Tuesday and Wednesday in view of thunderstorm alert
09:14 am: Himachal Pradesh: Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti received fresh snowfall this morning.
08:39 am: Rajasthan's Jaipur faces dust storm
08:22 am:
06:00 am: Meerut schools have also been ordered to remain closed for the day in view of the adverse weather.
05:31 am: Six arriving flights, One departure flight delayed due to the dust storm that hit Delhi and adjoining NCR areas including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Baghpat, Meerut and Ghaziabad.
04:58 am: Heavy rains & snowfall can be expected in next 24 hours. Keylong's maximum temperature has dropped to 3.5 degree celsius. The temperature here in Shimla has dropped 4-5 degrees below than the normal temperature: Manmohan Singh, Director of IMD
04:50 am: Advisory of those travelling on roads: The Delhi Traffic Police has advised commuters to plan their journey after checking the weather conditions. The advisory has asked commuters to avoid travelling during the storm. Those who are stopping on the road or parking their vehicle have been advised to keep away from overhead electrical wires, tinned roofs, trees, etc., it said. The commuters have been advised to take shelter under concrete structures. Drivers have been advised to use dippers or parking lights while driving. The advisory said that commuters should "keep themselves updated about weather conditions and plan their journey accordingly".
The Delhi Traffic Police's advisory states that it has alerted the field formations to be ready to get obstacles such as fallen trees removed.
04:30 am: National Disaster Management Authority released a post-thunderstorm list of do’s and don’ts: 1. Stay away from storm-damaged areas 2. Listen to local radio/TV stations for updated information on weather and traffic 3. Help children, women, elderly and differently-abled 4. Stay away from fallen trees/power lines and report them to nearest tehsil/district HQ immediately
04:00 pm: Dos and Don'ts issues by the government: In the list of "dos and don'ts" , the government has advised citizens to try to stay indoors and staff off verandas and keep a watch on local weather updates and warnings. The government also asked people to ensure that children and animals are inside and unplug unnecessary electrical appliances.
The advisory also asked citizens to avoid taking a bath or shower or running water for any purpose. "This is because lightning can travel along pipes. Keep away from doors, windows, fire places, stoves, bath-tubs, or any other electrical charge conductors," the advisory stated.
03:00 pm: In view of the storm warning, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to exercise extreme caution in running of trains. "If wind speed is reported in the range of 70-90 kmph then train movement will remain normal but trains will enter with a restricted speed of 40 kmph or less at the platforms on elevated section. "If wind speed is reported more than 90 kmph then trains will be put on hold at platforms and no train will enter platform with a speed of more than 15 kmph," a senior DMRC official told PTI. In this case, normal movement of trains will be restored once the wind speed is reported less then 85kmph for continuous five minutes. Appropriate announcements will be made at stations during this period, he said.
02:12 am:
02:00 pm: The Delhi government has put search and rescue teams on standby in the wake of the meteorological (MeT) department issuing a warning of heavy rain and thunderstorm. The traffic police have alerted their field formations to be ready to remove obstacles such as fallen trees and asked commuters to check weather conditions before travelling.
01:00 pm: A dust storm, with a wind speed of 70 kilometres per hour, hit the national capital tonight followed by a squall, bringing down the temperature after a hot day, the weatherman said. The high-velocity wind swept through Delhi around 11.15 PM, an official at the Safdarjung observatory said. The MeT department had issued a warning message at 8.53 pm, saying a spell of rain/thunderstorm accompanied with squall is likely to occur over Delhi and NCR during in the next three-four hours. It has forecast rains and gusty winds for tomorrow as well.
(For updates on thunderstorm before 1 am, click here - Thunderstorm: Severe dust storm hits Delhi NCR region; IMD issues alert for 15 states)
(With inputs from agencies)
