Pre-Monsoon season is all set to make a thumping beginning in Northwest India. According to weathermen, the first fairly widespread dust-storm activity of the season is being forecast today onward. The spell would be prolonged one and might last until April 6. Thunderstorm activities accompanied with lightning strikes might also be seen.
There are chances of dust-storm over Rajasthan today evening onward. While other states including that of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana will witness dust-storm on April 5 and 6, mostly towards the latter half of the day. The intensity of these dust-storm will be mild to moderate with winds blowing with the speed of 40 kmph to 70 kmph, reaching up to 100 kmph at times.
The reason for these dust-storms is the combination of 35°C plus temperatures along with the presence of moisture inducing Cyclonic Circulation over Rajasthan region and a Western Disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir. These systems will sustain over the next 2 to 3 days.
Its April already and the North India hasn’t experienced any widespread dust-storm activities till now. The reason for this can be the persisting temperature pattern wherein the day temperatures remained under the 40°C-mark across Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi-NCR, barring a few regions in Rajasthan.
There are two pre-requisites for dust-storm activities-
- High temperatures which act as a trigger
- Presence of moisture: Presence of more moisture in atmosphere leads to thunderstorm activities whereas less moisture leads to dust-storms
So far, the trigger in the form of high temperatures was missing from most parts of North India and in fact, these states were experiencing pleasant conditions so far. However, as we progress further in the month of April, many regions have started heating up. Bikaner, Barmer, and Jaisalmer have already crossed the 40-degree mark.
On Wednesday, Churu recorded 42.6°C, Barmer stood at 42°C whereas Chittorgarh recorded 42°C. This readily marks the onset of heatwave conditions over these regions.
Many other areas including that of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi-NCR are also observing a rising pattern. There’s forecast that Delhi-NCR might even record 38°C on Thursday. With this, probability of dust storm and other pre-Monsoon activities have also increased in Northwest India.
Image Credits – KOMO
Any information taken from here should be credited to Skymet Weather
