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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2026

MUMBAI – Under the influence of two troughs, hailstorm is likely over parts of central Maharashtra and Marathwada till Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said. Thundersqualls with wind speeds reaching 50–60 kilometre per hour and gusting to 70 km per hour are expected over the same region till Thursday, the weather department said. A thundersquall is typically a thunderstorm with a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed.

One trough runs from the central parts of Madhya Pradesh to north interior Karnataka and the other one runs from the Gulf of Mannar to south interior Karnataka, the department said. These weather systems are also expected to cause light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning over parts of Konkan, Goa, and Gujarat till Thursday and over central Maharashtra and Marathwada on Friday, it said.

The same weather system is also likely to cause a wet spell accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning, and gusty winds over most parts of south India till Sunday, the weather bureau said.

The presence of multiple weather systems, including a western disturbance, over northwest India is likely to cause hailstorms over several parts of the region till Friday, the weather bureau said. Heavy rainfall or snowfall is also expected over parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on Thursday and Friday, while a wet spell accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds is likely over most parts of northwest India till Saturday, while hailstorms are also likely over several parts of the region till Friday, the bureau said. Thunderqualls with wind speeds reaching 50–60 km per hour and gusting to 70 km per hour are expected over parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Uttarakhand on Thursday and Friday and over Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

An upper air cyclonic circulation over northeast Assam and adjoining Arunchal Pradesh is expected to cause heavy rainfall over parts of Assam and Meghalaya on Friday and Saturday, the weather bureau said. Light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning is likely over northeast India in the next five days, the bureau said.

Light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gusty wind is likely over central and east India in the next four to five days, while hailstorm is also expected over the region till Saturday, the weather department said. Thunderqualls with wind speeds reaching 60–70 km per hour and gusting to 80 km per hour are likely over parts of Jharkhand on Friday and over Gangetic West Bengal on Saturday, the department said. Thundersqualls with wind speeds reaching 50–60 km per hour and gusting to 70 km per hour are also likely over parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, and Odisha on Friday and Saturday and over Gangetic West Bengal on Friday.

With large-scale thunderstorm activity predicted over most parts of the country and the consecutive western disturbances which is likely to bring rainfall and snowfall over north India, normal to below-normal day temperatures are likely during the next seven days across the country, the weather bureau said. No significant heat wave conditions are likely during this period, the bureau said.  End

Reported by Shreya Shetty

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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