The southwest monsoon continued its gradual advance across Madhya Pradesh, bringing widespread rainfall to several parts of the state, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned that thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds are likely to persist over the next 24 hours. Weather conditions remain favourable for the monsoon to advance into the remaining parts of the state during the next three days. According to the IMD’s observations, rainfall was recorded at many places in the Narmadapuram, Ujjain and Shahdol divisions, while a few places in the Indore, Rewa and Jabalpur divisions also received rain. Isolated showers were reported from the Bhopal, Gwalior, Chambal and Sagar divisions, whereas the remaining divisions largely remained dry. Pithampur in Dhar district emerged as the wettest location in the state with 131 mm of rainfall, falling under the very heavy rainfall category. Heavy rainfall was also recorded in Khalwa (74 mm), Khirkiya (70.4 mm) and Bilhari (67 mm).

 

Ujjain received 39 mm of rain, while several other locations across Harda, Khandwa, Katni, Dewas, Seoni and Shahdol districts reported moderate rainfall. Day temperatures witnessed a noticeable decline in parts of Chambal, Shahdol and Sagar divisions, falling by nearly 2.6 to 2.8 degrees Celsius, while no major change was observed across the rest of the state. The highest maximum temperature was recorded at 41.8°C in Gwalior, followed by Datia at 40.6°C and Sidhi at 40.2°C. On the cooler side, Khargone recorded the state’s lowest maximum temperature at 30°C, closely followed by Khandwa and Pachmarhi. Night temperatures showed mixed trends. Minimum temperatures fell by about 2.1°C in the Rewa division but rose by 3.5 to 3.6°C in parts of the Bhopal and Chambal divisions.

 

Khandwa recorded the state’s lowest minimum temperature at 20°C, while Gwalior remained the warmest at night with a minimum of 31.3°C. Strong winds accompanied the changing weather in several districts. Gusts reached 46 kmph in both Jabalpur and Rewa, 41 kmph in Shahdol, 37 kmph in Sidhi and 35 kmph in Sehore, indicating active thunderstorm conditions across central and eastern Madhya Pradesh. For Bhopal, the weather remained comfortable with a maximum temperature of 33.8°C and a minimum of 24.8°C. No rainfall was recorded in the city, although relative humidity stood at 82 per cent. The forecast indicates a partly cloudy sky, with the possibility of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and light rain during the evening hours. Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to remain around 37°C and 25°C, respectively, with average wind speeds of 10–12 kmph.

 

The IMD has issued a heavy rainfall warning for isolated places in Chhindwara district, while Dindori and Balaghat are likely to witness thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph. Similar thunderstorm and gusty wind warnings have also been issued for Bhopal, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Rajgarh, Narmadapuram, Betul, Harda, Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Shajapur, Agar, Neemuch, Guna, Shivpuri, Rewa, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Katni, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and several adjoining districts. Meteorologists attribute the prevailing weather to multiple active systems, including the advancing northern limit of the southwest monsoon, an east-west seasonal trough stretching from Punjab to Bihar, a trough extending from northern Uttar Pradesh to Telangana through eastern Madhya Pradesh, and several upper-air cyclonic circulations over Haryana, Punjab, north Gujarat and the west-central Bay of Bengal.