1,000-km Cloud Band Over India, Pak: What It Means For Weather This Weekend

A 1,000-kilometre swathe of clouds hovered over northwest India and Pakistan on Friday, satellite images shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed, pointing to approaching rain in the region.

The active Western disturbance since Thursday over East Iran and adjoining Afghanistan, combined with an upper air cyclonic circulation over East Rajasthan and a trough extending from East Rajasthan to the east-central Arabian Sea, is expected to trigger unstable weather conditions.

The significant weather system, moving eastward, is expected to bring rainfall, thunderstorms and gusty winds across most of the north-western states. These will include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan on Friday. By Saturday, it will spread to Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Rainfall and gusty winds will be witnessed over the aforementioned states on most days till April 8.

A separate trough from East Jharkhand to South Chhattisgarh is also contributing to the convective activity. A fresh Western Disturbance will also likely affect northwest India from April 7 onwards.

Though it will provide relief from rising temperatures, farmers have been advised to stay alert as the showers could impact standing crops.

The prediction comes at a time Delhi is already witnessing a sudden change in weather patterns, with a thick blanket of dust covering the city and surrounding regions. According to the IMD's morning bulletin, "Thunderstorms and lightning with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph are likely to occur over Delhi and adjoining areas of NCR during the next 24 hours."

The spells of rain over Delhi-NCR are likely to continue through the weekend. The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for Saturday, forecasting one or two spells of very light rain or drizzle, accompanied by a thunderstorm, lightning and strong surface winds of speeds between 20 and 30 kmph, gusting up to 40 kmph during the afternoon and the evening.

The IMD's Meteorological Centre in Bhopal has issued a warning that thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds, and hail will affect large parts of Madhya Pradesh till April 5.