Thunderstorms are lining up over East India promising to cap the heating trend over Vidarbha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh over the next few days.

The all-India rain deficit during the first 21 days of March is at 24 per cent, but western disturbances on their way out have dropped excess rainfall over most of the Met subdivisions in the East during this period.

Surplus rain

The plains of Bengal recorded the maximum surplus of 120 per cent, followed by Jharkhand (65 per cent); East Madhya Pradesh (59 per cent); Chhattisgarh (49 per cent); and Odisha (36 per cent).

The 24 hours ending Thursday morning saw rain/thundershowers at a few places over Odisha and at isolated places over Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattishgarh, hills of Bengal and Sikkim, Telangana and Kerala. Kollam in Kerala recorded six cm of rain.

The wet weather is being overseen by a cyclonic circulation over North-West Madhya Pradesh; a trough extending from this circulation to western parts of Vidarbha; and another trough from North Bihar to Manipur across Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya.

The moist easterlies of south-easterlies from the Bay of Bengal blow into these formations and interact with the prevailing hot and dry air to create unstable weather.

The IMD said that a wind confluence zone has been set up across the eastern parts of Central and adjoining Peninsular India, triggering isolated rain/thundershowers over South Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha.

Isolated hailstorms have also been reported over parts of Vidarbha and Telangana. This activity is likely to continue over these regions into Friday, though with reduced intensity.

Scattered to fairly widespread rain/thundershowers is forecast over North-East India during the next two days. Isolated thundersqualls and lightning are likely over Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

The highest rain deficits are in the western parts of the peninsula, extending from Rayalaseema and North Interior Karnataka to adjoining parts of West Maharashtra and South and East Gujarat.

The India Met Department (IMD) has warned that maximum temperatures, which are already above normal by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius over Kerala-Rayalaseema, may rise further from Friday.

Maximum day temperatures may likely remain near normal over major parts of the country during the next three days. A gradual rise in temperatures by the same extent is forecast over parts of Kerala and also over Maharashtra and Gujarat from Friday, the IMD said.

Meanwhile in the North, a western disturbance continued its relentless campaign, bringing snow to the hills of North-West India and thundershowers to the adjoining plains.

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