IMD warns of heavy rains at isolated places

new delhi: The national Capital is likely to witness heavy rains at isolated places over the next two days, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.

Widespread moderate rains are predicted for the rest of Delhi and neighbouring areas, it said. "Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy showers very likely over Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh during the next two days," it said in a weather forecast.

The convergence of moist easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal and southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea is likely to continue over northwest India for another two-three days, weather experts said. The monsoon though is also running through the region. These two factors together can lead to moderate to heavy rains in Delhi-NCR in the next 24 hours, they said. The IMD's regional forecasting centre predicted moderate rains along with winds gusting up to 40 kilometers per hour towards Monday night. During the day, sporadic light rains and cloudy weather kept the mercury in check in the national capital.

The Safdarjung Observatory recorded a maximum of 32.6 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal.