Thunderstorm, rain likely to hit parts of east UP

LUCKNOW:The Met department on Wednesday issued warnings of thunderstorm accompanied with squall, dust storm and rain at isolated places over east Uttar Pradesh. Officials also said the monsoon current had lost momentum and hence there may be a delayed monsoon this year.

Usually, the monsoon arrives in UP and hits Ballia, Gorakhpur and Varanasi region on June 18 and reaches Lucknow by June 21. But with the monsoon current getting weak, UPites may have to bear with the hot and humid conditions for some more time, said Met director JP Gupta.

The forecast for the next 24 hours is rain/thunder showers very likely at isolated places over

east UP and weather is most likely to be dry over west UP.

Gonda, Shravasti, Faizabad, Basti districts, along with other adjoining areas of the state, are likely to remain affected. Hailstorm is also likely to occur in the aforementioned areas. According to officials, the wind speed as high as 50-75 km/h is also expected during the period.

Agra was hottest in the state with a day temperature of 43.9 degrees Celsius (three degrees above normal). The minimum temperature was 34.7 degrees, which was eight notches above normal. Etawah sizzled at 43.8 degrees (three notches above normal) followed by Fatehgarh 43.4 degrees and Shahjahanpur 42.2 degrees. Lucknow recorded a maximum of 40.8 degrees, which was two degrees above normal while the minimum was 25.4 degrees. The forecast for Lucknow and adjoining areas is mainly clear becoming partly cloudy sky. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 42 and 26 degrees respectively, said Gupta.