South west monsoon hits Kerala

New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) The much-anticipated south-west monsoon hit Kerala's southern coast four days ahead of schedule, bringing widespread rainfall across the state while at least four farmers were killed and two others injured in a cloudburst at the famed tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir today.

Reports said the farmers were working in paddy fields at Sofipora in Pahalgam area when the cloud burst in the evening.

Four farmers died on the spot and two others sustained burn injuries due to the cloudburst, police added. The injured were shifted to a hospital.

Several parts of Kerala received heavy rainfall and conditions were favourable for its further advancement into the interior parts of the state, the met department said.

Delhi received fresh spell of rains accompanied by high velocity winds, keeping the temperature below normal at 39.2 degrees Celsius.

The mercury plummeted in Punjab and Haryana following snowfall in the higher reaches and rain in lower areas of Himachal Pradesh, providing respite from the scorching heat in the region.

The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh also experienced fresh mild snowfall while light to moderate rains lashed most parts of the state.

All major peaks of the state and higher reaches in Bharmour and Pangi Valley in Chamba district received fresh snowfall while lower parts of the district received rains, the met office said.

High altitude areas of Kinnaur district also recorded mild snowfall and intermittent rain. However, the sky was mainly clear in the tribal Lahul-Spiti district.

In Punjab, Ludhiana recorded a steep fall in the mercury to 35.1 degrees, six degrees below normal. The maximum temperature also plummeted at Amritsar and Patiala registering 36.5 degrees, three degrees below normal, and 38.7 degrees, two degrees below normal.

Hissar, which usually remains the hottest place in Haryana, recorded 39.8 degrees while Ambala registered 38.2 degrees and Karnal 39.2 degrees, one degree below normal.

Bihar today witnessed yet another day of sweltering heat as the mercury continued to rise in most parts of the state.

The Met office said the maximum temparature recorded here was 41 degrees while the minimum was 25.5 degrees.

The maximum temperature in most parts of the state hovered around 40 degrees.

People in Rajasthan heaved a sigh of relief with pleasant weather. The state capital recorded a maximum temperature of 39.3 degrees, Ajmer 39 degrees, Dabok 38 degrees, Jodhpur 40 degrees and Bikaner 40 degrees.

The Met office has predicted rain or thundershowers at few places and hailstorm or thundersqualls at isolated places in the northwest region during the next 24 hours.

Rain or thundershowers occurred at many places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripra, West Bengal, Sikkim and Lakshadweep. They also occurred at a few places in Assam, Meghalaya, coastal and south interior Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Isolated places in Orissa, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Konkan, Goa and Tamil Nadu also recorded rains.

Dry weather prevailed over Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Gujarat, Marathwada, Andhra Pradesh and north interior Karnataka. Konni in Pathanamthitta District received the maximum of 17 cm rainfall during the past 24 hours, followed by Thrissur (12 cm), Kozha (Kottayam), Mancompu (Alappuzha) and Alappuzha (11 cm each), Kozhikode (10 cm), Thiruvananthapuram and Varkala (nine cm each), Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram Airport (eight cm each) and Nilambur (seven cm).

Heavy to very heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in Konkan, Goa and south interior Karnataka.

They are also likely to occur at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim, Madhya Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, north interior Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Rain or thundershowers are also likely to occur at isolated places in Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Marathwada and Andhra Pradesh.

UNI