North India may see widespread, heavy rains in next two weeks, say weather forecasters

NEW DELHI: Heavy, widespread rains are expected over north India in the next two weeks, according to forecasts by two weather agencies, further hampering wheat harvesting, which has already been delayed by a fortnight.

"From April 27th, we expect heavy rains to lash across the northern hill states starting from Jammu & Kashmir, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, over the next two days. We advise tourists to be cautious in view of inclement weather conditions resulting in very heavy rainfall exceeding 50 mm in the next 24 hours at a few places," said Jatin Singh, CEO of Skymet Weather Services.

Thunderstorms with squalls and hail will occur at a few places in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department said. It also forecast rains over Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and north eastern states.

"A fresh western disturbance as an upper air system would affect Western Himalayan region from April 30th onwards and cause scattered rain and thundershowers over the region," the IMD said. Singh of Skymet said there would be rainfall over the plains on May 4 and 5.

It is unusual to have rains in the last week of April and May when wheat harvesting is in progress across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Unusual rainfall in March and April has damaged crops in parts of the country.