4 dead in lightning strike in MP as isolated places across country see heavy rainfall

 A lightning strike killed four people in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday as isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded over the southern, central and the north-eastern parts of the country, even though the weather was largely dry in the northern region.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places was observed in Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Konkan and Goa and North-Interior Karnataka, and heavy rainfall was recorded at isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, east Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, South-Interior Karnataka and Kerala, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The IMD's monsoon bulletin said an off-shore trough at mean sea level runs from Maharashtra coast to Kerala coast. Under its influence, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls, thunderstorm and lightning very likely over peninsular India during the next four-five days. Dry weather prevailed in the national capital on Thursday, and similar conditions are likely to continue over the next four to five days in the city, the weather office said, adding that light to moderate rain is expected from September 15.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a maximum of 36.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal. The maximum and minimum humidity settled at 90 and 50 per cent.

The monsoon is likely to stay longer in the national capital this year and will start withdrawing only in the "initial days of October", an IMD official said. The wind system had reached Delhi on June 25, two days earlier than normal.

In Madhya Pradesh, four people, including a minor boy, died and four more were injured when lightning struck their makeshift house on a field in Barwani district. The victims had taken shelter in the makeshift house during rainfall, a district official said. The maximum temperatures hovered above normal in Haryana and Punjab as sultry weather conditions prevailed in the region.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a high of 35 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department in the city. In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius, while Hisar's maximum settled at 37.2 degrees Celsius. Karnal registered a maximum temperature of 34.6 degrees Celsius, while Narnaul's maximum temperature settled at 35.5 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Patiala recorded a high of 36.1 degrees Celsius, while Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius each. In Rajasthan, maximum temperatures across most parts of the state settled between 33 degrees Celsius and 39.5 degrees Celsius.

While 18 mm rain was recorded in Eranpura (Pali) since Wednesday, 0.9 mm was recorded in Jodhpur and 1 mm in Bhilwara. The meteorological department said dry weather is expected in the western part of Rajasthan in the next week, while the eastern region is likely to receive light to moderate rainfall in the next five days.

The districts of Bikaner and Jodhpur division in western Rajasthan are expected to remain almost dry in the next four-five days, it said, adding that the region is likely to see rainfall from September 15-16. Rainfall is expected to increase in the eastern part of the state from September 14-15, the weather office said.

In Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rainfall and thundershowers occurred at isolated places.

While Mohammadi (Kheri) recorded 5 cm rainfall, Robertsganj (Sonbhadra) recorded 4 cm, Gorakhpur, Chaundali and Balrampur 3 cm each and Maharajganj, Tarabganj (Gonda) and Salempur (Deoria) received 2 cm each, the Lucknow weather office said. The highest maximum temperature in the state was 37.4 degrees Celsius, recorded at Lucknow.

The Met department has predicted dry weather in western Uttar Pradesh and light to moderate thunderstorm accompanied with lightning at isolated places over the eastern part of the state. The IMD's special monsoon bulletin said heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places in coastal Karnataka during September 10-13 and in south-interior Karnataka and Kerala on September 10 and 11.

The western end of the monsoon trough lies to the north of its normal position and its eastern end near to its normal position. The monsoon trough is very likely to shift southward due to the formation of a low pressure area over west-central Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh coast around September 13, it said.

Under their influence, fairly widespread rainfall with isolated thunderstorm and lightning are very likely in the north-eastern and the eastern parts of the country. Heavy rainfall at isolated places are also very likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and the northeast states during the next four days.

Rainfall distribution and intensity are very likely to increase over Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat from September 12 onwards. Isolated heavy falls are also very likely over these regions during the same period, the IMD said. 

(Image Credits:PTI)