Scattered rains in north India, temperatures settle close to normal
There was scattered light to moderate rainfall across northern India on Thursday with a 'yellow' weather warning for thunderstorm issued in Himachal Pradesh, while widespread downpour triggered landslides and a flood-like situation in parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
In Assam, the flood situation deteriorated marginally, affecting over 11,600 more people though the number of affected districts stayed at 12.
It was, however, a sultry day in the national capital as the rains gave the city a miss. Though the sky was partly cloudy, high humidity (92 per cent) caused some inconvenience to the residents.
The Safdarjung Observatory recorded a maximum of 37.8 degrees Celsius, two notches more than normal.
The weather department predicted a partly cloudy sky and dry weather on Friday as well.
So far in July, the Safdarjung weather station has recorded 35.4 mm rainfall, which is 22 per cent less than the normal of 45.3 mm. Since June 1, when the monsoon season started, the city has gauged 76.7 mm rainfall against the normal of 104.2 mm -- a deficiency of 26 per cent.
In Himachal Pradesh, the Meteorological department has issued a fresh 'yellow' weather warning for heavy rainfall till July 12.
While downpour is expected in the state till July 15, the weather warning is for heavy rain, thunderstorm, and lightning at several places in the middle hills on July 10, 11 and 12, and in the plains and the lower hills on July 11 and 12.
On Thursday, the highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 34.8 degrees Celsius, while the lowest temperature was recorded in Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong at 10.6 degrees Celsius.
There was light to moderate rains at some places in the hill state since Wednesday.
The weather office issues colour-coded warnings to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather that has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption or danger to life".
Yellow, the least dangerous of all the weather warnings, indicates the possibility of severe weather over the next few days.
Light to moderate rainfall was recorded in several parts of Rajasthan, the Jaipur weather office said. Heavy rains lashed Alwar and Nagaur till Thursday morning.
The weatherman has forecast rainfall in the eastern parts of the state till Friday.
In Haryana and Punjab, the maximum temperatures hovered close to normal limits on Thursday, with Chandigarh recording a high of 35.2 degrees Celsius.
The city received rains in the evening, the meteorological department said.
Hisar in Haryana recorded a high of 35.5 degrees Celsius, down three notches against the normal, while Karnal registered a high of 35 degrees Celsius. Ambala recorded a high of 35.2 degrees Celsius.
Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab recorded below-normal maximum temperatures at 36 degrees Celsius, 34.2 degrees Celsius and 35.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The weatherman has predicted rain or thundershowers a few places in Haryana and Punjab over the next two days.
Light to moderate rain occurred at some places in Uttar Pradesh as well, while heavy showers lashed isolated parts of the state in the last 24 hours, the Met office in Lucknow said.
Rain or thundershower is very likely at most places in eastern and western UP on Friday. Moderate rain accompanied by lighting is very likely in other parts of the state, an official at the weather office said.
There were rain and thundershowers in the eastern and the north-eastern parts of the country till Thursday morning. Extremely heavy rainfall was observed in parts of Assam and Meghalaya.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the number of flood-affected people rose to 1,82,583 on Thursday from 1,70,956 on Wednesday.
Flood and landslides have claimed 64 lives so far in the state with 40 having been killed in incidents related to the deluge and 24 dying in landslides.
Dhemaji is the worst-hit district with around 58,000 people affected by the flood, followed by Barpeta with 45,800 people and Lakhimpur with 33,000 people, the ASDMA said in its report.
At present, 400 villages are under water and 26,676.25 hectares of crop area have been damaged, the ASDMA said.
Continuous rainfall in the past four days has triggered landslides and a flood-like situation in Arunachal Pradesh, damaging roads, houses and inundating low-lying areas, officials said in Itanagar.
Massive landslides have been reported in many parts of the state capital since Wednesday, a senior government official said.
A report from East Siang district said that the landslides and flash floods have left a trail of destruction in the district.
The Siang river and all its tributaries are flowing above the danger mark at some points. According to information received from Lohit and Namsai districts, all the major rivers and their tributaries are in spate.
The IMD said heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy falls at isolated places are very likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya on Friday.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gangetic West Bengal, and Odisha during the same period, it added.
