As the south-western monsoon onsets, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed earlier yesterday above a low-pressure system was hovering over the Arabian Sea. A red alert has been issued along the coastlines of Maharashtra and Goa warning monsoon farers of extremely heavy downpour during the upcoming weekend. The low-pressure cyclonic development remained persistent off the Konkan-Goa coast and predictions of a heavy rains and thunderstorms have been issued across parts of India.
Konkan-Goa under Red Alert
While there has been no official announcement regarding a cyclone prediction, the Konkan-Goa coast has been official placed under red-alert. Heavy to Very Heavy Rainfall is expected in the region. IMD cautions the states to expect gusting winds as high as 65 kmph which might cause damage to infrastructure such as communication and power lines. Warnings have also been issued regarding probable damage to agricultural spaces and cattle in open spaces.
Regions under Orange Alert
Areas near the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra belt, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Coastal Karnataka are under orange alert. While parts of Bengaluru return with clear skies after a week, the city was drenched in torrential rain and infrastructure struggled due to waterlogging. However, at the same time, parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat will be facing heat-wave like conditions during the same period.
Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning & gusty winds(40-50kmph) very likely at isolated places over East Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, North Interior Karnataka, Odisha, Sub Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha. Other affected regions include Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Coastal Karnataka, Gujarat State, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura and South Interior Karnataka.
The low-pressure areas in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal might prove to be appropriate conditions for a cyclonic development and are likely to last till May 27 and may worsen after the next 72 hours. Thus, IMD cleared the air and denied any possible developments of Cyclone Shakti so far.