Heavy rainfall, landslides likely in next 2 days in northeast: IMD

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a weather advisory for the Northeast, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall, with isolated extremely heavy falls, over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Assam, and Meghalaya for the next two days. This weather pattern is expected to persist, though less intensely, thereafter.

Over the past 24 hours, heavy rainfall has been recorded in several areas, including isolated exceptionally heavy rainfall in Meghalaya and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Bihar. These conditions have been exacerbated by strong southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal, leading to widespread precipitation and localized severe weather events.

The IMD's forecast includes the likelihood of thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura over the next five days. Specific warnings for isolated extremely heavy rainfall have been issued for Assam, Meghalaya, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, particularly on June 18 and 19.

Additionally, a cyclonic circulation over northeast Assam is contributing to the adverse weather conditions, with strong southwesterly winds influencing the rainfall patterns. Residents in the affected areas are advised to stay alert for potential landslides and flooding due to the persistent heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, North India is expected to see a gradual abatement of the current heatwave conditions, which have brought severe temperatures to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The highest recorded temperature was 47.6°C in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The heatwave is predicted to ease due to an approaching Western Disturbance towards Northwest India, leading to a slight drop in maximum temperatures over the next few days.

The IMD has also noted that the Southwest Monsoon is advancing steadily, with conditions favorable for further progress into Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and parts of West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand over the next 3-4 days.