Storms, hail, or heat? What Tuesday's weather has in store for India
The IMD has pointed simultaneously to hailstorms, violent thunderstorms, dust storms, heavy rain, and heatwaves expected tomorrow across India.
Tuesday is set to be one of the most weather-intense days of the week across India, marking yet another abrupt weather shift.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast simultaneous warnings for hailstorms, violent thunderstorms, dust storms, heavy rain, and heatwaves across different corners of the country, illustrating how dramatically India's weather can change within a day.
WHAT'S THE WEATHER IN NORTH?
The most dramatic conditions on Tuesday will play out across the north and northwest parts of India.
Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Bihar, and Uttarakhand are under warning for powerful thundersqualls, which are sudden, violent bursts of wind and rain, with speeds expected to reach 50–60 kmph. That is forceful enough to snap tree branches, bring down power lines, and send unsecured objects flying.
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand are expected to face a more severe combination of thunderstorms paired with hailstorms.
Bihar is also under a hailstorm warning on Tuesday. The IMD has cautioned that hail at this intensity can injure people and livestock caught outdoors, damage standing crops, and strip fruit from orchards. Farmers in these regions have been advised to deploy hail nets and harvest any mature produce immediately.
In East Rajasthan, a dust storm is expected on Tuesday, reducing visibility sharply and making road travel dangerous.
Temperatures across northwest India are forecast to climb 2–4°C on Tuesday, before rising more steeply, by as much as 4–5°C, between Wednesday and Sunday.
WEST TO BAKE
While the north battles storms, the west will face a more sustained and familiar threat.
Heatwave conditions are forecast on Tuesday across Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, and Marathwada.
Temperatures in these areas are already well above normal, with Barmer in Rajasthan recording the country's highest maximum temperature of 46.8°C on Monday. And these areas are expected to experience high heat throughout the week.
In red-alert heatwave zones, the IMD warns of a very high likelihood of heat illness and heat stroke across all age groups and not just the elderly and children.
To make matters worse, no relief will arrive even when the Sun sets, as warm nights are also expected to persist across Rajasthan through Tuesday.
REGIONS WITH RAIN
At the other end of the country, Tuesday brings a very different kind of weather.
Heavy rainfall is forecast at isolated places throughout Assam, Meghalaya, and parts of West Bengal and Sikkim. These conditions are expected to intensify to very heavy from Wednesday onwards and persist well into the week.
In the south, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and interior Karnataka will see widespread thunderstorms with gusty winds reaching 40–50 kmph.
But these are not just random rain showers but early pre-monsoon signals.
The IMD has pointed to a low-pressure area persisting over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the north Sri Lanka coast, likely to become more pronounced over the next 48 hours, a development that is feeding growing moisture into south India and nudging the monsoon's arrival closer.
The monsoon is expected to reach the Andaman and Nicobar Islands within a fortnight, before hitting the Kerala coast around June 1.
A fresh western disturbance, a weather system originating over the Mediterranean that brings rain and snow to north India, is also expected to arrive from May 15 onwards, which should bring some respite to the northwest later in the week.
Tuesday is set to be one of the most weather-intense days of the week across India, marking yet another abrupt weather shift.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast simultaneous warnings for hailstorms, violent thunderstorms, dust storms, heavy rain, and heatwaves across different corners of the country, illustrating how dramatically India's weather can change within a day.
WHAT'S THE WEATHER IN NORTH?
The most dramatic conditions on Tuesday will play out across the north and northwest parts of India.
Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Bihar, and Uttarakhand are under warning for powerful thundersqualls, which are sudden, violent bursts of wind and rain, with speeds expected to reach 50–60 kmph. That is forceful enough to snap tree branches, bring down power lines, and send unsecured objects flying.
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand are expected to face a more severe combination of thunderstorms paired with hailstorms.
Bihar is also under a hailstorm warning on Tuesday. The IMD has cautioned that hail at this intensity can injure people and livestock caught outdoors, damage standing crops, and strip fruit from orchards. Farmers in these regions have been advised to deploy hail nets and harvest any mature produce immediately.
In East Rajasthan, a dust storm is expected on Tuesday, reducing visibility sharply and making road travel dangerous.
Temperatures across northwest India are forecast to climb 2–4°C on Tuesday, before rising more steeply, by as much as 4–5°C, between Wednesday and Sunday.
WEST TO BAKE
While the north battles storms, the west will face a more sustained and familiar threat.
Heatwave conditions are forecast on Tuesday across Rajasthan, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, and Marathwada.
Temperatures in these areas are already well above normal, with Barmer in Rajasthan recording the country's highest maximum temperature of 46.8°C on Monday. And these areas are expected to experience high heat throughout the week.
In red-alert heatwave zones, the IMD warns of a very high likelihood of heat illness and heat stroke across all age groups and not just the elderly and children.
To make matters worse, no relief will arrive even when the Sun sets, as warm nights are also expected to persist across Rajasthan through Tuesday.
REGIONS WITH RAIN
At the other end of the country, Tuesday brings a very different kind of weather.
Heavy rainfall is forecast at isolated places throughout Assam, Meghalaya, and parts of West Bengal and Sikkim. These conditions are expected to intensify to very heavy from Wednesday onwards and persist well into the week.
In the south, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and interior Karnataka will see widespread thunderstorms with gusty winds reaching 40–50 kmph.
But these are not just random rain showers but early pre-monsoon signals.
The IMD has pointed to a low-pressure area persisting over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the north Sri Lanka coast, likely to become more pronounced over the next 48 hours, a development that is feeding growing moisture into south India and nudging the monsoon's arrival closer.
The monsoon is expected to reach the Andaman and Nicobar Islands within a fortnight, before hitting the Kerala coast around June 1.
A fresh western disturbance, a weather system originating over the Mediterranean that brings rain and snow to north India, is also expected to arrive from May 15 onwards, which should bring some respite to the northwest later in the week.
