Heavy rain likely across north, central and east India over the next few days

Several parts of north, central and east India are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next few days as a well-marked low-pressure area lies over north-east Madhya Pradesh and adjoining regions, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.

East Uttar Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Bihar are likely to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall on Wednesday, while West Uttar Pradesh is expected to see such rainfall during 3-4 September. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim are likely to experience heavy rainfall on 3 September, while Vidarbha could receive heavy to very heavy showers on 3 September.

East and West Madhya Pradesh are expected to receive fairly widespread to widespread rainfall from 3-8 September, while Vidarbha is likely to see similar conditions during 3-6 September. Chhattisgarh could receive widespread rainfall on 7-8 September, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in parts of the region.

In north-west India, Uttarakhand is likely to receive widespread rainfall through 8 September, while Himachal Pradesh is expected to see similar conditions during 3-5 September. Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi are likely to receive widespread rainfall on 3-4 September. West Uttar Pradesh is expected to receive widespread rainfall during 3-5 September.

Flash flood risk

The IMD has forecast a low to moderate flash-flood risk over several watersheds and neighbourhoods in east Madhya Pradesh, including Jabalpur, Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Mandla, and in east Uttar Pradesh, including Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Chitrakoot. Surface runoff and inundation could occur in saturated soils and low-lying areas.

Eastern India is also likely to remain wet, with widespread rainfall expected over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during 3-8 September. Bihar and Gangetic West Bengal are likely to receive widespread rainfall on 3 September and again on 8 September.

In the past 24 hours, extremely heavy rainfall exceeding 20 centimetres was recorded at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal. Very heavy rainfall of 12-20cm was recorded in parts of Himachal Pradesh, east Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

Heavy rainfall of 7-11cm was also recorded at isolated places over west Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland.

Meanwhile, India’s cumulative rainfall during the south-west monsoon season remained 13% below normal through 2 September, with the country receiving 618.5mm of rainfall against the normal 714.3mm for the period from 1 June.