Delhi residents woke up to a cloudy morning on Thursday as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) placed the national capital under an orange alert, forecasting light rain, thunderstorms, lightning, duststorms, and strong winds later in the day.
Surface winds are expected to blow mainly from the southwest at 15-20 kmph during the day before strengthening later in the evening.
Delhi weather forecast
The IMD has warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, duststorms, and strong winds over Delhi and adjoining areas. Similar conditions are expected across parts of northwest India, including Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Wind speeds are expected to reach 50-60 kmph, going up to 70 kmph during thunderstorm activity.
The weather office said Delhi is likely to experience a partly cloudy sky, which will become generally cloudy by the afternoon. Maximum temperatures are expected to range between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius, while minimum temperatures are likely to remain between 27 and 29 degrees Celsius.
Monsoon advances
The southwest monsoon continues to advance across the country. The northern limit of the monsoon currently passes through parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, and the northeastern states.
According to the IMD, conditions remain favourable for the monsoon to advance into more upper parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar during the next three to four days.
Heavy rainfall likely in several states
IMD has issued heavy to very heavy rainfall warnings for some areas over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Kerala, Odisha, and West Bengal and Sikkim.
Heavy rainfall is also likely over parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, coastal Andhra Pradesh, coastal Karnataka, parts of West Bengal, Konkan and Goa, Lakshadweep, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.
Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are likely across large parts of the country, with wind speeds ranging between 40 kmph and 80 kmph in some areas. Duststorm activity is also expected at isolated places over Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
