Gurgaon: A dust storm swept across the city around 4.30 pm on Monday, reducing visibility and bringing temporary relief from the day’s heat. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast an increase in rainfall activity across Haryana over the coming week.Monday’s maximum temperature was recorded at 40.8 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was not recorded.In a nowcast issued at 3 pm, IMD warned of light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 40-60 kmph over Manesar and adjoining NCR areas during the next two hours. The alert also covered Sohna, Farukhnagar, Rewari, Nuh, Palwal, Kosli, Charkhi Dadri, Bhiwani and several other parts of Haryana. Light rain with winds of 30-40 kmph was also forecast for nearby areas, including Jhajjar.According to IMD’s Chandigarh centre, the seasonal trough at mean sea level currently extends from Punjab to Bihar across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. A trough in the middle tropospheric westerlies is also active over north India, while a fresh western disturbance is expected to affect northwest India from July 2.The department’s seven-day forecast indicates isolated light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms on June 29 and 30, rainfall at a few places on July 1 and 5, and at many places on July 2, 3 and 4 across Haryana. Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places between July 2 and July 4, while thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph, gusting up to 60 kmph, are expected across the state from July 1 onwards.IMD has also warned that heatwave conditions may persist at isolated places in Haryana on June 29 and 30. Maximum temperatures are not expected to change significantly over the next three days before declining as rainfall activity intensifies.Weather experts said the revival will be driven by the formation of two low-pressure systems, one over inland India and another over the Bay of Bengal, along with the establishment of the monsoon trough across north India. Haryana, Delhi and Punjab are expected to receive scattered rainfall on July 1 and 2, followed by fairly widespread moderate to heavy rain from July 3 to 6, a spell likely to usher the southwest monsoon into the region after a prolonged delay.
