Good news is in store for parts of east, central and interior peninsular India that have been reeling under a severe drought and extreme heat conditions. According to a detailed report recently released by Skymet Weather, pre-monsoon showers are expected to hit large parts of the country starting May 2, providing much needed relief.
“[T]his April is turning out be one of the driest Aprils on record,” the private weather forecasting agency stated, adding: “May is likely to begin on a wet note giving massive relief from the scorching hot weather, particularly over Odisha and Telangana where mercury has even peaked as high as 48°C.”
Skymet Weather predicts that thundershowers will pick up pace in the first week of May, and will continue irregularly into the first half of the month.
“Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North and Northeast Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh will start witnessing good pre-monsoon rain and thundershowers from May 2 or 3. These on and off rains will continue for a week. Thereafter rains will become occasional but will continue with reduced intensity,” the report says.
The report continues: “By May 3, these pre-monsoon rains will cover parts of Central and East India. This includes Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.”
West India will follow, the report says, with the rain belt covering parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra and the remaining parts of Rajasthan by May 6. Finally, by May 26 and 27, “rain and thundershowers will start appearing over Kerala, indicating the onset of Southwest Monsoon.”
Although the showers will hit unevenly, they will have an overall cooling effect for the entire country.