Overview
- IMD forecasts and warnings on May 30 show a 5–7°C drop in maximum temperatures across northwest India with yellow and orange alerts for thunderstorms, lightning and thundersqualls.
- The western disturbance and enhanced monsoon moisture have produced heavy showers, hail, dust squalls and gusts of 60–80 km/h that uprooted trees, caused waterlogging, disrupted transport and were reported to have killed people in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
- Delhi‑NCR and other major cities saw marked short-term relief from heat with rains improving air quality and lowering daytime highs into the mid-30s, but IMD says temperatures are likely to rebound in early June.
- The India Meteorological Department says the southwest monsoon is advancing into surrounding seas and islands but its second-stage outlook cuts seasonal rainfall for the Monsoon Core Zone to about 90% of normal because climate models show a developing El Niño.
- Authorities are urging caution for continued localized hazards, advising people to avoid open areas and weak structures during storms, and warning that below-normal monsoon rainfall could raise drought and water-stress risks for rain-fed farming areas.