Evening comes early as heavy rains lash city, monsoon at doorstep
Bhopal: The signs were in the clouds. Evening came early on Wednesday as dark, menacing clouds enveloped city skies. Even as the skies darkened, the wind picked up all of a sudden, followed by a light drizzle which later turned into a steady pitter-patter, announcing that the much-anticipated monsoo
By Ankur Sirothia
Bhopal: The signs were in the clouds.
Evening came early on Wednesday as dark, menacing clouds enveloped city skies.
Even as the skies darkened, the wind picked up all of a sudden, followed by a light drizzle which later turned into a steady pitter-patter, announcing that the much-anticipated monsoon had arrived in the state and was at the city’s doorstep.As the hours passed, the skies grew darker still, later bringing intense showers across vast swathes of the city on Wednesday.
Vehicles, with headlights flipped on, stood at signals in driving rain, even as pedestrians, some taking cover under umbrellas and others caught unawares, hurriedly crossed over to the nearest shelters.Expectedly, with the arrival of the monsoon, albeit nine days later than the scheduled onset, the regional meteorological office signalled the start of increased rainfall activity across the state over the next few days.The Met office flagged an alert for thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds, in the city and several parts of the state in the coming days.While missing the scheduled onset date of June 15 by nine days, the southwest monsoon advanced rapidly post its arrival on Wednesday, covering more than one-fourth of the districts in a single day.Showers lashed several districts, including Dhar, Indore, Mandla, Betul, Chhindwara, Khandwa, Khargone, Seoni, Balaghat, Burhanpur, Alirajpur and Barwani, Met officials said, adding that conditions were favourable for the further advancement of monsoon into the state capital and other parts over the next few days.As the city received heavy rains, aided by strong winds, the Met said a combination of weather systems enabled the swift advancement of the monsoon in the state.Earlier, on Tuesday, the forecasters predicted monsoon to arrive in Madhya Pradesh in another one or two days, following its onset in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.The Met department attributed the rainfall activity and the swift progress of the monsoon to multiple systems, including a persistent seasonal trough extending from Rajasthan to Gangetic West Bengal through north Madhya Pradesh, south Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
An upper-air cyclonic circulation over southeast Madhya Pradesh and associated troughs extending towards the Arabian Sea also influenced the weather.The weather office issued a heavy rainfall alert for Betul, Chhindwara and Pandhurna, while thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and strong winds was forecast in several districts, including Bhopal, Sehore, Jabalpur, Vidisha, Raisen, Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Ratlam, Guna, Satna, Shahdol, Mandla, Balaghat, Sagar, Narmadapuram, Khandwa, Khargone and Seoni.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Bhopal | Silver Rate in Bhopal | Bank Holidays in Bhopal | Public Holidays in Bhopal | Petrol Price in Bhopal | Diesel Price in Bhopal | CNG Price in Bhopal | LPG Price in BhopalStay updated with the latest Bhopal news.
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