Bhopal, Sep 26 (IANS) : A very heavy rainfall alert has been issued on Saturday in thirteen districts of Madhya Pradesh.
According to the Bhopal Weather Centre of the India Meteorological Department, a depression over northeast Madhya Pradesh and adjoining north Chhattisgarh continued to bring widespread rainfall across large parts of the state, with very heavy downpours recorded at several locations in the past 24 hours.
According to observations recorded on Saturday morning, very heavy rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds (40–50 km/h) is likely at isolated places in Datia, Bhind, Sidhi, Rewa, Satna, Umaria, Katni, Jabalpur, Panna, Damoh, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and Niwari.
Heavy rainfall is expected at isolated places in Shivpuri, Gwalior, Morena, Singrauli, Mauganj, Anuppur, Shahdol, Narsinghpur, Mandla, Sagar and Maihar.
Also, rainfall occurred at most places in Rewa, Jabalpur, Shahdol and Sagar divisions, at many places in Gwalior and Chambal divisions, at a few places in Bhopal, Indore and Narmadapuram divisions, and at isolated places in Ujjain division.
Maximum temperatures remained markedly below normal by 4.5–5.1 degrees Celsius in Gwalior and Sagar divisions and by 2.0–3.8 degrees C in Bhopal, Chambal and Jabalpur divisions.
Minimum temperatures were also below normal by 5.9–8.0 degrees C in Gwalior, Rewa, Jabalpur, Shahdol and Sagar divisions.
The highest rainfall amounts included Bichhia (191.8 mm), Ajaigarh (180.2 mm), Amarkantak (148.0 mm), Panna (143.2 mm) and Bajag (143.0 mm). Heavy rainfall was reported from Rajnagar (112.6 mm), Niwas (110.8 mm) and several other stations.
Gusty winds reached 59 km/h at Anuppur and 52 km/h at Sagar. Thunderstorms with lightning occurred across Shahdol, Jabalpur, Narmadapuram, Sagar, Rewa, Chambal and Gwalior divisions as well as in Vidisha, Raisen, Ratlam, Jhabua, Dhar, Barwani and Khargone districts.
The depression, centred near 70 km south-southwest of Sidhi district, is very likely to move north-northwestwards towards southeast Uttar Pradesh by Saturday evening and then weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area.
The forecast for Sunday, September 27 indicates rainfall or thunderstorms with lightning at most places in Datia, Bhind, Singrauli, Sidhi, Rewa, Satna, Anuppur, Shahdol, Umaria, Dindori, Katni, Jabalpur, Mandla, Panna, Damoh, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Maihar districts.
Authorities have advised people to stay away from low-lying and flood-prone areas, avoid underpasses and overflowing bridges, and secure temporary structures.
For Bhopal and the neighbourhood, the sky is expected to remain generally cloudy with the possibility of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and rain. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 29 degrees C and 21 degrees C respectively.
