After heavy rains and thunderstorms, parts of northern India could now face a “very rare cold day” this March.
Navdeep Dahiya, weather expert and founder of Live Weather Of India, said on X that “A very rare #Coldday for North #India in late March 🥶 Maximum temperature (day) expected in the range of 15-19°C over most parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, 20°C today likely from 01-05 March.”
“Winter is back for the day, enjoy it, but take care!” Dahiya wrote on X.
A “cold day” on March 20? What the IMD said
Delhi woke up to light drizzle and windy weather on Friday morning, with the minimum temperature settling at 16 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees below normal, according to the IMD.
In a press release on Friday, March 20, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted normal to sub-normal day temperatures in the “next week”.
The IMD on Friday said the maximum temperature in Delhi could drop by 5-6°C in the next 24 hours. She predicted that the maximum temperature is likely to settle at 19-21°C on Friday and the minimum temperature may touch 16°C.
According to IMD data, the normal maximum temperature on March 20 (years) was 31.3 °C and the normal minimum temperature was recorded at 16.5 °C.
More rainfall in parts of India | IMD forecasts
India witnessed a sudden change in weather on Wednesday as rain lashed several parts of the country. Light drizzle and windy weather led to a drop in temperature and many enjoyed breezy mornings and evenings.
Between March 20 and 24, the meteorological office has predicted more rain, thundershowers and even hailstorms in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha.
Why does it rain at this time of year?
People in Delhi, Bengaluru and other parts of India must now ask themselves: Why does it rain at this time of the year? These rainfalls, which have intensified since Wednesday, are quite “unusual”.
Apart from the IMD, several weather experts and climatologists took to social media to share regular updates on the weather conditions and explain the phenomena causing these showers.
The weather service attributed the current conditions to widespread thunderstorm activity in several parts of the country and the gradual approach of western disturbances.
In its weather update on Friday, the IMD said, “The Western Disturbance is seen as a trough from North Pakistan to South West Madhya Pradesh through Punjab and Rajasthan in lower to upper tropospheric levels.”
It further informed that “a fresh weak western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from 22 March and another active western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from 26 March 2026”.
“Very rare” via “turning summer into winter”
Meanwhile, ‘All India Weather’, led by Dr. Pradeep, a self-described climatologist, called the rainfall “pre-monsoon thunderstorms literally turning summer into winter in various parts of the north and south!”
Posting on X, he said: “Unusual Western interference reached northern India. Its structure is completely different. A trough is located in a straight line for thousands of kilometers, which is generally very rare. It has the ability to create very strong thunderstorms and storm clouds, so be careful and follow the IMD.”
