Strong dust storms circles Delhi and the national capita regions on Tuesday evening as IMD issued a red and orange warning across NCR.
The weather department has predicted moderate rain along with severe thunderstorms for South Delhi, South East Delhi, South West Delhi, New Delhi and North West Delhi,
Moderate rain along with moderate thunderstorms are expected in North Delhi, North West Delhi, Central Delhi, East Delhi, North East Delhi and Shahadara.
While the region is currently under a heatwave warning for isolated pockets, a fresh Western Disturbance is expected to affect the Western Himalayan region starting June 11.
“Isolated to Scattered rainfall likely over Punjab and West Rajasthan during 11th-15th June; Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi on 9th June and during 11th-15th June,” the IMD stated in its weather warning on Tuesday. The weather department has forecast isolated to scattered rainfall across Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from June 9-14.
Warnings have also been issued for thunder squalls with wind speeds reaching 50-60 kmph, along with gusty winds and lightning, across Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh between June 11 and 12.
The south west monsoon on Tuesday advanced into and covered North Bengal and the north eastern states. The south west monsoon set over Kerala on June 4. “The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of northeastern states, entire Sikkim and some parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal,” the IMD said in its bulletin.
According to IMD, the country may experience below-normal rainfall this year, owing to the emergence of El Nino conditions.
What is El-Nino?
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon characterized by warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. While it occurs periodically, its effects are now being supercharged by a warming planet.
Historically, El Niño has been associated with heatwaves, droughts, altered rainfall patterns, floods, and disruptions to agricultural production. Scientists warn that when El Niño occurs against the backdrop of record global temperatures, the resulting impacts can become more severe and widespread.