IMD Warns of Severe Thunderstorms, Hail, and Lightning Across 8 Indian States

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded an alert for severe weather conditions, including thunderstorms, lightning, hailstorms, and heavy rainfall, across multiple states. Citizens in the affected regions have been urged to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.

In an update on X (formerly Twitter), the IMD highlighted a major weather system stretching from East Rajasthan to Gangetic West Bengal. The system covers West and East Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Bihar, raising concerns over intense thunderstorms and hazardous cloud-to-ground lightning.

The department also warned of strong winds reaching speeds of 50–60 kmph, particularly over Assam and Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, South Interior Karnataka, and Uttarakhand.

Gusts between 40–50 kmph are expected in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and Sikkim.

Hailstorm alerts have been issued for scattered locations in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand. In addition, heavy rain may occur in parts of Odisha and South Interior Karnataka.

In Vidarbha, IMD’s Nagpur centre has warned of thunderstorms with hail, lightning, gusty winds (40–50 kmph), and light rainfall in Gondia, Bhandara, Nagpur, and Wardha. Meanwhile, Amravati, Yavatmal, Washim, and Chandrapur districts could experience thunderstorms with lightning, winds of 30–40 kmph, and light rain.