IMD issue yellow alert for Bengaluru, Delhi; national capital sees coolest May in 35 years

Rain along with thunderstorms is expected to continue over northwest India on Thursday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).  The next three days will see a heatwave over West Bengal and Bihar, according to the meteorological service.

For the upcoming days, yellow alerts have been issued for Bengaluru and Delhi. According to IMD, Karnataka will likely see severe rain until June 4; eight districts, including Bengaluru, have been put on yellow alert.

Another western disturbance that would likely bring storms and rain is predicted to hit India's northern plains, including Delhi, in the coming days, according to the meteorological department.

According to IMD, Delhi saw its coldest May in 36 years in May, when excessive rains lowered the average maximum temperature to 36.8 degrees Celsius.

IMD's regional forecasting centre director, Kuldeep Srivastava, said that Delhi had seen an average high temperature of 36 degrees Celsius in May 1987. "The average maximum temperature in May of this year was 36.8 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest since then," he added.

Only nine days in May saw maximum temperatures in Delhi exceed 40 degrees, with two days of heatwave conditions impacting particular areas of the national capital. According to IMD statistics, this rainfall ranks fourth highest in the month behind 165 mm in 2008, 144.8 mm in 2021, and 129.3 mm in 2002. The city had heat waves in certain isolated areas and more than 20 mm of rain in April, the most since 2017.

IMD predicted heavy rain in Bengaluru till June 4 and a yellow alert has been issued to eight districts, including Bengaluru. The yellow alert has been issued for the following districts: Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kodagu, and Shivamogga. As well as Udupi, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Chamarajanagar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, and Vijayanagara districts, the agency also forecast average rainfall in those areas.

Meanwhile, numerous areas in east India are expected to experience a heatwave. According to IMD, isolated pockets of heat wave conditions are highly likely to exist across Bihar till June 4; in Gangetic West Bengal until June 2; and today in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal.