The met has issued a weather warning for May 16-20, and also said that thunderstorms accompanied by winds at 50-70 kmph could will hit 'isolated places' in Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha today
Days after a thunderstorm and dust storms hit Delhi-NCR, Delhiites again woke up to a dust storm on Wednesday morning as strong winds and rain lashed the national capital in early hours.
Worse, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that several towns of North India -- Aligarh, Meerut, Panipat, Bagpat, Alwar, Rohtak and their adjoining areas would be hit by thunderstorms and rains before noon.
Over the past week, thunderstorms and dust storms have wreaked havoc across northern and eastern parts of the country. Reports suggest that the number of casualties could be anywhere between 80 and 100. Experts have opined that the freak weather phenomenon is due to a western disturbance that originates in the Mediterranean Sea and brings rainfall to northwestern India.
Western disturbance is a normal phenomenon that can be observed over the western Himalayas and north Indian plains from October to March. However, what is unusual is its occurrence in April-May, several senior IMD scientists have been reported as saying.
The met department on Wednesday issued a weather warning for May 16-20 and said that thunderstorms accompanied by winds at 50-70 kmph could hit 'isolated places' in Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday morning.
Earlier, the department had said that the storms would last for 48-72 hours.
Here are the top 10 developments around the thunderstorms/dust storms that have hit India over the past week:
1. Thunderstorm to strike again today: A thunderstorm is expected to hit Jind, Rohtak, Panipat, Alwar, Bagpat, Meerut, Aligarh and their adjoining areas during the next two hours, the Indian Meteorological Department has said, according to a report by news agency ANI.
2. IMD issues warnings for next 4 days: The meteorological department has issued warnings for the next four days. The notification says West Bengal and Odisha will see storms today.
3. Delhi wakes up to dust storm: A massive dust storm hit the national capital in the wee hours of Wednesday. Strong winds, accompanied by dust, lashed the city while bringing a sudden decline in the temperature.
4. 80 deaths so far: The latest dust storm came days after a deadly storm on May 13-14 claimed over 80 lives across five states in the country. At that time, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had said that the thunderstorm will continue for the next 48 to 72 hours.
As many as 80 were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and east Uttar Pradesh due to thunderstorms and lightning with Uttar Pradesh alone recording 51 deaths.
5. 10,000 people marked safe on Facebook safety tool: Facebook on Tuesday said nearly 10,000 people have marked themselves safe till now, using the social network's "Safety Check" feature that was activated on Monday following storms across India. The crisis response tool, which is activated when a lot of people in an affected area post about an incident, can also help users check to see if their friends in an affected area are safe too.
6. Compensation for victims in Muzaffarnagar: District authorities have distributed ex-gratia of Rs 400,000 each to family members of two persons killed in the district in the recent storm.
