Three killed in lightning strikes in UP; dry weather in most parts of country

Three people were killed in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh which along with Rajasthan received light to moderate rains on Saturday, while dry weather conditions prevailed in most parts of the country.

Rains eluded Delhi, with the city recording a maximum temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal.

The national capital has recorded 71 per cent less rainfall in September so far, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

The city has recorded 576.5 mm rainfall against the usual of 594.6 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season started.

The IMD has said that monsoon is likely to stay longer in Delhi and start withdrawing only in the "initial days of October".

In neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, hot weather conditions prevailed with above normal maximum temperature at many places in the two states, the MeT Department said.

Chandigarh recorded a day temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

In Haryana, Ambala and Karnal recorded their respective highs at 35.6 and 35 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana recorded their maximum temperatures at 35.6 and 35.7 degrees Celsius, respectively, while the day temperature in Patiala was 36.8 degrees Celsius, four degrees above the normal.

The weather office has predicted dry weather conditions in both the states in the next 48 hours.

In Rajasthan also, the weather largely remained dry on Saturday, with only a few places receiving light to moderate rains.

Kushalgarh (Banswara) and Sirohi each received a maximum of 6 cm rains till Saturday morning.

Kotda (Udaipur) and Bali (Pali) recorded 5 cm and 4 cm rains while Mount Abu (Sirohi), Dungbola (Dungarpur), Kesarpura (Banswara) and Raibadi (Nagaur), each received 3 cm rains during this period, according to the MeT Department. Light rains are likely to occur at a few places in the state during the next 48 hours.

Three people were killed in lightning strikes at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district while grazing cattle.

Light to moderate rain and thundershowers occurred at isolated places in the state.

According to the weather office, rain and thundershowers are very likely at a few places over eastern UP and at isolated places over western UP on September 14 and September 15.

Parts of Saurashtra-Kutch region in Gujarat received heavy rainfall after a brief dry spell, with one taluka getting 107 millimetres in eight hours.

The state has received around 124 per cent of average annual rainfall this season so far, officials said.

As per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), some areas in Saurashtra districts like Devbhumi Dwarka, Kutch and Jamnagar received heavy rainfall, with Kalyanpur taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka getting 107 mm rainfall in eight hours till 4 pm.

The India Meteorological Department's Ahmedabad centre has said between Monday and Wednesday, parts of Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, as well as light to moderate rainfall in many parts of the district over the next five days.

According to the IMD's daily bulletin, isolated heavy to very heavy falls are very likely over Odisha on September 13 and Telangana on September 13 and 14.

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