Central India and the South Peninsula will continue to be under the spell of heavy to very heavy showers, even as North-West India awaits its turn for a spell of the strengthening monsoon.
As has been reported, the monsoon trough in North India has reverted to its normal alignment, running from Sriganganagar in Rajasthan all the away to the East-Central Bay of Bengal.
The formation of a low-pressure area over North Bay of Bengal by Friday and its subsequent intensification, would further escalate the rainfall over Central India and North-West India.
HEAVY RAIN FORECAST
The monsoon trough returned from its temporary abode along the foothills of the Himalayas to its original alignment yesterday. As a result, the India Met Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rain at a few places, with extremely heavy falls at isolated places over Konkan and Goa today.
According to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the rains may not be that heavy in Mumbai, though it could be heavy over South Konkan, coastal Karnataka and Kerala.
The wettest places during the next 24 hours could be Chandrapur-Bijapur, Khandwa, Jabalpur, Nagpur, and Chhindwara across interior Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
The rains will be heavy to very heavy with extremely heavy showers at isolated places over West Madhya Pradesh and South Gujarat, heavy at a few places and very heavy over coastal Karnataka and Kerala.
Heavy to very heavy rain is forecast over Uttarakhand, South Interior Karnataka and Madhya Maharashtra, and heavy over East Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh, South Chhattisgarh, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu and North Interior Karnataka.
As for tomorrow, heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls are likely over Konkan and Goa, with heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy showers over Madhya Pradesh and South Gujarat.
RAIN BELT MOVEMENT
Elsewhere, it will be heavy to very heavy over Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan and coastal Karnataka, while heavy rain is forecast for Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Saurashtra, Madhya Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala.
According to a three-day ECMWF projection, the heavy rain belt would move to the West from Central India to cover West Madhya Pradesh, South and East Gujarat and the West Coast. During this period, the rains would also flare up over Nepal and adjoining Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
The rains are expected to be heaviest over Central India and West India, namely, the Nagpur-Amravati-Yavatmal-Chandrapur-Bijapur belt in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
West Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Maharashtra, particularly Nashik, Jalgaon, Malegaon, Nandurbar, Khandwa, Indore, Bhopal, Jhabua, Bankheri, Chhindwara, and Jabalpur are also expected to receive heavy showers.
During the three-day period, the ECMWF outlook projects heavy rain in the North, along the hills, especially over Ranikhet, Pokhri, Dehradun, Dharamsala and Jammu.