Panchkula July 20 (UNI) The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its morning bulletin issued at 0809 hours IST on Monday, forecast fairly widespread to widespread rainfall across large parts of northwest, central and east India over the next week, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall warned for Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in the initial days of the spell.
According to the IMD, heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, is likely over Uttarakhand on July 20; over Jammu and Kashmir during July 20-22; and over Himachal Pradesh on July 20 and 21.
The department cautioned that the red-colour warning used for such alerts does not denote a “red alert” but signals that authorities and residents should “take action.”
The weather office said fairly widespread to widespread rainfall is likely over Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad and Uttarakhand during July 20-26. Isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph, are also forecast over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad during July 20-23, while isolated thunderstorm and lightning are likely over Uttarakhand through the week and over Uttar Pradesh during July 20-22.
For Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab, the IMD forecast fairly widespread to widespread rainfall during July 20-23, tapering to isolated to scattered rainfall during July 24-26.
Uttar Pradesh is expected to receive fairly widespread to widespread rainfall during July 20-24, with isolated to scattered rain on July 25 and 26. East Rajasthan is likely to see fairly widespread to widespread rainfall during July 23-26, while West Rajasthan will see isolated to scattered rainfall through the week, and East Rajasthan isolated to scattered rain during July 20-22.
The bulletin also flagged isolated heavy rainfall over several northwestern states between July 20 and 26, including Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab on July 23; Uttar Pradesh during July 23-26; West Rajasthan during July 21-24; and East Rajasthan through the week.
Isolated very heavy rainfall is additionally likely over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh during July 20-22, apart from Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad on July 23, Himachal Pradesh on July 22 and Uttarakhand on July 21. Isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, are forecast over Rajasthan throughout the week.
In central India, the IMD said isolated to scattered rainfall is likely over West Madhya Pradesh during July 20-21, and over Vidarbha during July 20-21 and again on July 25-26. This will give way to fairly widespread to widespread rainfall over West Madhya Pradesh during July 22-26, over Chhattisgarh and East Madhya Pradesh through the week, and over Vidarbha during July 22-24. Isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, are forecast over Madhya Pradesh during July 20-23, along with isolated thunderstorm and lightning over Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha during the same period. Isolated heavy rainfall is likely over West Madhya Pradesh on July 20 and during July 22-23, over East Madhya Pradesh during July 20-23, over Vidarbha during July 22-23 and over Chhattisgarh during July 20-23.
For east India, the department forecast isolated to scattered rainfall over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Odisha through the week, and over Bihar during July 22-26. Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall is likely over Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during July 20-26, and over Bihar during July 20-21. Isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph, are likely over Odisha on July 20, with gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during July 20-24 and over Bihar through the week. Isolated thunderstorm and lightning are forecast over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the week.
The IMD also warned of isolated heavy rainfall over West Bengal and Sikkim and Gangetic West Bengal during July 21-22; Jharkhand during July 20-21; Bihar during July 21-24; and Odisha during July 20-22, with isolated very heavy rainfall likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and over Bihar, on July 20.
The forecast and warning for any given day remain valid from 0830 hours IST of that day until 0830 hours IST of the following day, the department said.
