Orange alert: IMD warns of heavy rain, storms across 18 states. Check update for Delhi-NCR

Heavy downpours, severe thunderstorms, and sudden gusty winds are tearing across multiple regions of the country as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange warning for Odisha and Bihar, signaling heavy to very heavy rainfall, lightning, and volatile weather.

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall accompanied by violent squalls is pounding wide swathes of the country, prompting weather officials to urge high vigilance.

Heavy rain warnings are active across Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand, alongside coastal and island territories including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and North Interior Karnataka. Thunderstorm activity with sharp gusts is also battering Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, South Interior Karnataka, West Bengal, and Sikkim.

The alert extends deep into the northeastern belt, where Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura face persistent rain threats alongside Vidarbha and Gangetic West Bengal.

While Uttarakhand readies for intense rainfall, adjacent northern states like Himachal Pradesh are experiencing scattered showers. In the south, coastal Karnataka, Kerala, and Lakshadweep remain blanketed by heavy monsoon activity.

The intense precipitation comes amid a complex monsoonal paradox gripping the country. Despite the current barrage of severe weather, localised flash floods, and landslide threats, national rainfall levels remain subdued overall.

The IMD’s initial long-range forecast in April had projected June-September rainfall at roughly 92% of the long-term average, largely due to the expected onset of El Niño. That below-normal prediction has largely played out with sharp fluctuations.

Cumulative rainfall sat nearly 40% below normal by mid-June before periodic active spells narrowed the gap, leaving national figures around 12% below average by early August. Yet, as the current active pulse proves, even a deficient monsoon season retains the power to unleash severe local disruption.