A deep depression has sparked a red alert for Odisha, Chhattisgarh and the Vidarbha region as it moves across eastern India.
The weather system is currently over north interior Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, moving west-northwestwards at roughly 12 kilometres per hour.
The IMD expects the depression to track across north Odisha, south Jharkhand and north Chhattisgarh over the next 24 hours, bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Isolated areas within the red alert zone could see extremely heavy rain exceeding 204.5 millimetres, raising concerns over flooding and waterlogging.
An orange alert has been issued for Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, western Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, where heavy to very heavy rain is forecast.
Rain alerts are also active for Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar amid warnings of thunderstorms and strong winds.
The IMD has advised residents in hilly regions to stay alert to landslide risk and cautioned against driving through waterlogged roads.
The department said it would continue to monitor the depression’s movement and issue updated forecasts as needed.
The IMD said in a press release on July 28 that rainfall over northwest and central India is expected to be normal to above normal over the next four to five days, with the monsoon trough forecast to stay close to its usual position.
Under the IMD’s alert system, warnings are colour-coded from green through yellow and orange to red, with red indicating weather severe enough to require immediate action from both authorities and the public.
The IMD typically classifies a weather system as a deep depression when sustained wind speeds near its centre reach between 51 and 61 kilometres per hour, one step below a full cyclonic storm in intensity.
Red alerts from the IMD are reserved for situations warranting immediate action, urging state disaster management authorities to prepare for potential large-scale disruption to travel, power supply and daily life.
(Image: Photo by McKay Savage from London, UK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
