Thunderstorm likely in Uttarakhand, J&K and Himachal Pradesh; Rajasthan may witness dust storm

The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh may receive heavy rain and thunderstorm, accompanied with squall on Sunday and Monday. According to the IMD, Rajasthan is likely to witness dust storm on both Sunday and Monday.

The weather department said that the thunderstorm over the hill states and its subsequent effect on plains in north India will be caused by a new western disturbance from Sunday.

The IMD further predicted that thunderstorm accompanied with squall with wind speed reaching 50-70 km per hour are "very likely" at isolated places over east Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

"Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds also very likely at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Vidharbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Kerala," the IMD advisory further said.

More than 120 people have been killed and more than 300 injured across five states in the northern region in dust storms, thunderstorms and lightning strikes over the past. Many of these casualties have occurred in parts of Rajasthan and western UP. Last week, schools were also shut in parts of Delhi-NCR in the wake of a warning issued by the weather department.