Daily storms to strike eastern India as stifling heat grips rest of country

By Eric Leister, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

April 30, 2018, 11:47:57 AM EDT

Deadly thunderstorms and temperatures as high as 46 C (115 F) were felt across parts of India over the weekend.

Powerful thunderstorms lashed parts of northeastern India, including Bihar state where at least 11 people were killed on Sunday, according to India Today.

Two children were struck and killed by thunderstorms on Sunday after multiple thunderstorms moved through the area.

Locations across northeastern India will have to contend with additional showers and thunderstorms in the coming days.

Residents of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal should be on alert for daily thunderstorms.

If you are outdoors and hear thunder, quickly take cover indoors to avoid lightning.

The thunderstorms will lower temperatures across the region with daily highs of 31-33 C (88-92 F) from eastern Bihar into West Bengal.

Farther west, temperatures will peak near 38 C (100 F) in interior Odisha, western Jharkhand and western Bihar.

While northeast India has a reprieve from dangerous heat, central and northwest India will continue to bake in an intense heat wave this week.

Temperatures peaked near 46 C (115 F) in several locations across central and northwest India this weekend and similar temperatures will grip these areas in the coming days.

Locations from Hyderabad northward to Raipur and Bhopal will be in the heart of the dangerous heat.

Much of Gujarat and Rajasthan will also endure daily bouts of intense heat.

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The National Capital Region (NCR) will be on the cusp of sweltering conditions with locations south and west of New Delhi enduring the harshest heat this week.

A storm passing to the north could ignite a couple of showers and thunderstorms across the NCR on Wednesday and Thursday which would bring relief from the heat.

However, these storms could also bring damaging winds and blowing dust resulting in poor visibility and dangerous travel conditions.

This storm system will depart by Friday, allowing temperatures to climb back to dangerous levels across all of the NCR. This heat will continue to build into this weekend.

Bouts of intense heat are expected to continue across central and northern India in the coming weeks until monsoon rain arrives.

AccuWeather meteorologists are expecting a normal arrival of monsoon rain this year, with rain advancing from southern India in late May to the NCR by late June.