New Delhi: A day after New Delhi reported some relief from the sweltering heat, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday said a fresh spell of Heatwave conditions is likely to commence over Northwest India from May 7 and over central India from May 8. In its latest bulletin, the weather department said, heatwave conditions are expected over Maharashtra on Thursday (May 5), and over Rajasthan between May 7 and 9. In South Haryana, South-West Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha (in Maharashtra), and Delhi, the heatwave will continue on May 8 and 9.
The IMD bulletin said that thunderstorms and lightning are very likely to occur over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Rajasthan later on Thursday.
“However, a fresh heatwave spell is likely to commence in Rajasthan. Isolated heatwave conditions are expected to start in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Vidarbha especially. For Rajasthan, it will be for today and tomorrow (May 5 and May 6), and on May 7, it (heatwave) will spread into some other parts of northwest India and central India," IMD Director General, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra was quoted as saying by ANI.
The forecast comes a day after several areas of north and central India, including Delhi, received hailstorms. Strong winds gusting up to 50 kmph lashed the national capital, forcing at least three flights to be diverted towards Jaipur in Rajasthan. Several other flights were delayed due to rain, wind and thunderstorm.
Meanwhile, another spell of severe heatwave awaits over North, North-West and Central parts of India, with heavy rainfall likely to occur over southern and eastern parts of the country.
The Meteorological Department has predicted the formation of a low-pressure area over south Andaman Sea on May 6, which will move north-westwards and become a pressure area during the next 48 hours. Due to this, heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over the Nicobar Islands on Thursday, and heavy rainfall is very likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands between May 6 and 8.
Meanwhile, no heatwave is expected in the national capital till Sunday, another spell is likely from Monday. “There will be a partly cloudy sky on Friday. The maximum and the minimum temperatures on Friday are likely to hover around 39 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively," an IMD official said.
The northern hill states and Union Territories (UTs) of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been predicted with thunderstorms and lightning till May 8.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a significant meeting to review arrangements for heatwave management and monsoon preparedness wherein he stressed on to avoid deaths due to heatwave or fire incidents.
During the meeting, the IMD and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) briefed about the persistence of high temperatures in March-May 2022 the nation over, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.