Five-day rain spell likely from today

Hyderabad: For five days from Thursday, the state and much of the country will experience a prolonged spell of thundershowers, hailstorms, gusts of wind and rains, all of which are unusual for this time of the year both their duration and their spread.

The IMD has said the freak weather will be caused by a low pressure area running from Jharkhand to Telangana. It said low-level southeasterly moist air from the Bay of Bengal would interact with the westerly winds to cause light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and winds blowing at a speed of 30-40 kmph.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, meteorology and climate change, Skymet Weather, told Deccan Chronicle, “Pre-monsoon activities will hit the state from March 15 onwards and there will be heavy downpour from March 17 and will continue on and off for the next 3-4 days.”

He said that except the west coast, the rest of the country would receive widespread thundershowers between March 16 and 21 which could continue till March 23.

Palawat explained it was unusual because pre-monsoon activities usually last for 24-48 hours at isolated pockets. “However, this time we are witnessing pre-monsoon across the country and almost all the states will be impacted”, said Palawat.

The pre-monsoon activity will continue over the peninsula in April and May and the southern region will experience lower temperatures.

The IMD has issued a yellow warning for five days for the districts of Adilabad, Komaram Bheem, Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Warangal, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Kamareddy, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, Medchal, Sangareddy and Medak.