The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted dust storms and thundershowers between April 15 and April 17 in most parts of northwest India, including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, J&K and Rajasthan, because of a combination of weather factors.

The root cause for such weather, rare for this time of the year, is a western disturbance – a storm with cold air at its core that originates in the Mediterranean region and brings rain to north and northwestern India.

According to IMD’s weather bulletin, a “western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region and northwest India from April 15 and cause enhanced rainfall activity with probable thundersqualls and hailstorms over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on April 16.”

Thunderstorms with wind speeds of 50-60 kmph struck parts of Bihar, Kerala, interior Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, central Maharashtra, Marathwada, MP, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Sikkim.