Weather News LIVE Updates: Assam Police Issues Advisory Against Traveling to Silchar; Monsoon Arrives in Andaman & Nicobar

Due to heavy rains in Meghalaya, the bridge at Shymplong village is washed away and the East Jaintia Hills are completely cut off and disconnected from the mainland.

From a scorching heat wave in North India to heavy rainfall in the Northeast and red alert in Kerala, India has been witnessing myriad weather conditions. However, the sizzling temperatures up North have been in the limelight for over a month now. In Delhi, the Safdarjung observatory recorded 45.6 degrees Celsius while two weather stations at Mungeshpur in northwest Delhi and Najafgarh in southwest Delhi reported 49.2 and 49.1 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Sunday. Banda district in Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region recorded the maximum day temperature of 49 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state. READ MORE

Around 2 lakh people in 20 districts of Assam have been affected by floods, with the hill district of Dima Hasao getting cut off from the rest of the state after landslides triggered by incessant rain snapped rail and road links. Two flood-related deaths were reported in Cachar district, while three fatalities due to landslides were earlier recorded in Dima Hasao.

The movement of pilgrims to and from Badrinath Dham, which was suspended yesterday after heavy rainfall, has resumed today morning. “As soon as the weather cleared, 115 vehicles left Badrinath Dham this morning. The movement of passengers has started for Badrinath Dham” Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana told ANI on Tuesday. The movement of pilgrims was suspended amid heavy rainfall followed by falling stones near Hanuman Chatti.

The minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 27.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, a notch above normal, amid a forecast of partly cloudy sky with possibility of thunder and lightning later in the day. The relative humidity at 8:30 AM on Tuesday stood at 57 per cent, according to data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Partly cloudy sky had led to a marginal dip in the maximum temperature in Delhi on Monday though it was still two to four notches above normal. At the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s base station, the maximum temperature settled at 42.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.

Southwest monsoon advanced over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Monday, said the India Meteorological Department. The four-month rainy season is crucial for India’s largely agricultural economy. READ MORE

The spectre of climate change is here to stay and even worsen, say climate scientists as searing winds blow across swathes of north India, including New Delhi where temperatures have crossed 49 degrees Celsius, and flash floods ravage parts of the northeast. A day after two weather stations in Delhi saw temperatures of more than 49 degrees Celsius and neighbouring Gurgaon registered 48 degrees Celsius, the highest since May 1966, experts on Monday analysed the incidence of extreme weather events and sounded a dire warning.

Delhi Parents Association (DPA) on Monday wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) demanding that the summer vacation be declared in city’s schools immediately in view of the deadly scorching heat. A tormenting heatwave swept through the national capital and its neighbouring areas on Sunday with the mercury leaping to 49.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshpur in northwest Delhi and 49.1 degrees Celsius at Najafgarh in the southwest parts of the city.

Large swathes of north India witnessed a marginal drop in maximum temperatures on Monday and the weather department said thunderstorms and rain in parts of the region over the next few days are likely to bring further respite from the scorching heat. The mercury in Delhi, which recorded its hottest day of the year so far at 45.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, came down to 42.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The automatic weather stations at Najafgarh, Mungeshpur, Sports Complex, Jafarpur, Ayanagar, Pitampura and Ridge recorded a maximum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius, 44.4 degrees Celsius, 44 degrees Celsius, 43.9 degrees Celsius, 43.4 degrees Celsius, 43.3 degrees Celsius and 43.1 degrees Celsius, respectively. On Sunday, the mercury leapt to 49.2 degrees Celsius at Mungeshpur in northwest Delhi and 49.1 degrees Celsius at Najafgarh.

The parched western part of Odisha got some respite from sweltering heat on Monday as heavy to moderate rain lashed parts of the region overnight, the Met office said. Ten towns recorded a maximum temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius, while the humidity was above 80 per cent at many places, according to the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre. Kotpad in Koraput district received 79 mm of rainfall between Sunday evening and Monday morning. There was moderate downpour at several areas in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal and Boudh, the department said. Bolangir recorded 42.8 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state, followed by 42.5 degrees Celsius in Subarnapur and Boudh.

Southwest monsoon advanced into the Andaman and Nicobar islands on Monday, the IMD said, signalling the start of the four-month seasonal rains. The Andaman and Nicobar islands and adjoining areas have been experiencing rainfall due to strengthening south-westerly winds in the lower tropospheric levels, the weather office said. The onset of monsoon over Andaman and Nicobar islands happened a day late as the IMD had earlier said that the seasonal rains would cover the region on May 15. “Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of south Bay of Bengal, entire Andaman Sea & Andaman Islands and some parts of east-central Bay of Bengal during next 2-3 days, the IMD said in a statement here.

The IMD had issued a warning of heavy rainfall across Kerala and sounded a red alert for five districts Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode. According to the weather office, Ernakulam had reported 122.2 mm rainfall on Sunday, which was 13 times the normal of 8.3 mm for the day. Kollam reported 113.6 mm rain followed by Thiruvananthapuram (109.1 mm), Alappuzha (97.4 mm), Pattanamita (85.1 mm), Thrissur (81.6 mm) and Kottayam (74.3 mm). The weather office has forecast early onset of monsoon over Kerala by May 27, which is five days before the normal date of June 1. “Southwest Monsoon is likely to advance into South Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and the adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal during next 24 hours,” the weather office said.