IMD Warns Of Strong Winds And Thunderstorms As Delhi Faces Severe Weather

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow and orange alerts for Delhi, alerting of moderate to severe weather conditions from Wednesday to Friday.

Thunderstorms, rain, and gusty winds of up to 70 km/h are expected during these three days. On Wednesday, there was no alert, but in the afternoon, IMD issued a yellow warning, citing the possibility of light rainfall: "There are chances of some very light to light rain now. On Thursday, similar rain activity is expected, with the intensity even higher on Friday," an IMD official stated. The alert for Friday was upgraded from yellow to orange, predicting light to moderate rain and strong winds of up to 70 km/h.

This month, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) have already witnessed five intense storms, resulting in at least 12 deaths due to house collapses, electrocutions, and falling trees.

Winds up to 50 km per hour were predicted later on Wednesday, increasing to 60 km per hour on Thursday. Delhi is projected to receive over 200 mm of rainfall by the end of May. So far, the city has recorded 186.4 mm of rain this month, making it the wettest May in history, surpassing the previous record of 165 mm set in May 2008. The long-period average (LPA) for May rainfall is 30.7 mm.

Scattered light rain was recorded in parts of Delhi on Monday morning, with IMD predicting another wet week. A thunderstorm and three hours of heavy rain on Sunday caused major disruptions across the capital and the NCR, affecting flight operations, leading to waterlogging and power outages, and uprooting trees-exposing the city's underprepared infrastructure ahead of monsoon season.

The IMD, in its latest seasonal forecast on Tuesday, said the Delhi, Chandigarh, and Haryana sub-division is likely to receive above-normal monsoon rainfall, or 114% of the LPA. Nationwide, the forecast predicts above-normal rainfall at 106% of the LPA between June and September. For northwest India, a normal monsoon is expected, falling within the 92-108% range of the LPA.

In this region, 431 mm of rainfall is considered normal for the monsoon season. Typically, the monsoon arrives in Delhi around June 27. However, it is advancing more rapidly this year. It hit Kerala on May 24, a week ahead of the usual June 1 onset, and reached Mumbai on May 26-well before the normal June 11 date.