Rain or thundershowers lashed most places over Himachal Pradesh, at many places over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and at a few places over Punjab and isolated places over Uttarakhand during the day yesterday (Tuesday), as the first of the two incoming intense western disturbances closed in.

Manali recorded two cm of rain while Katra, Gulmarg, Banihal, Batote, Mandi, Sundernagar, Shimla and Kalpa received one cm each, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update said this (Wednesday) morning, as an induced cyclonic circulation lay over South-West Rajasthan and adjoining Pakistan.

Offspring circulation up

Active or intense western disturbances (noted for its intensity and depth) cause cyclonic circulations to form ahead even as the parent lurks in the rear. These cyclonic circulations mop up moisture from the Arabian Sea and drop it down as snow and rain or thundershowers over the hills and plains.

The IMD has warned of fairly widespread to widespread light/moderate rainfall/snowfall over the hills of North-West India today (Wednesday) and scattered tomorrow (Thursday). Isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall is likely over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms, hail

Scattered to fairly widespread light/moderate rainfall is forecast over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, North Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh on both days. It will be isolated to scattered over South Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh and East Uttar Pradesh.

Isolated heavy rainfall may occur over Punjab on Wednesday while isolated thunderstorms and hailstorms activity may hit Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and East Uttar Pradesh and West Madhya Pradesh on Thursday when the second intense western disturbance affects North-West India.

Second circulation to form

Once again, an induced cyclonic circulation may form over South-West Rajasthan on Friday, followed by high moisture feeding from Arabian Sea for three days until Sunday. As was mentioned in these columns already, this will likely be a more intense system than the predecessor.

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall/snowfall may envelope the hills until Sunday and lose intensity thereafter. Isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall is likely over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh during this period and over Himachal Pradesh on Saturday and Sunday, the IMD said.

Hills, plains to be hit

Scattered to fairly widespread light/moderate rainfall/thunderstorms may occur over the plains and adjoining Central India from Friday to Sunday. Isolated heavy rainfall is likely over Punjab on Friday and Saturday and over Haryana on Saturday.

Isolated thunderstorms with hailstorms are forecast over Punjab, East Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan on Friday and over East Madhya Pradesh on Friday and Saturday.

Dense fog may roll out over pockets during the night/morning hours over Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Odisha during next two days and over West Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura until tomorrow.

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