India is bracing for intensified weather conditions as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts heatwave spells and advancing monsoon activity across several regions.
Warm night conditions are likely to affect parts of eastern Madhya Pradesh on May 15. Simultaneously, heatwave conditions are expected to grip isolated pockets of western Uttar Pradesh from May 15 to 18, and eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Rajasthan from May 15 to 17.
Hot and humid weather will persist in Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on May 15. Bihar will experience similar conditions from May 16 to 18, while Odisha faces the heat on May 15 and 16.
Meanwhile, rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds (30–50 kmph) are forecast for Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh from May 18 to 20. Lightning activity is also anticipated across parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and eastern Rajasthan on select days.
Heavy rainfall is expected over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands on May 15 and in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim from May 15 to 17. Maharashtra’s Madhya region may also receive isolated heavy showers on May 15.
In southern India, heavy rainfall is likely in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal (May 15–16), North Interior Karnataka (May 15–18), and other parts including Rayalaseema, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Kerala, and Mahe during the forecast period.
The IMD also noted that conditions are favorable for the further advance of the southwest monsoon over the south Arabian Sea, Maldives, Comorin area, South Bay of Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and parts of the central Bay of Bengal in the next 2–3 days.