Thunderstorm Activity Over West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar : Lightening Strikes Likely
Apr 15, 2025, 12:30 PM | Skymet Weather Team
Severe Thunderstorms and Lightning Likely Over East India This Week | Image: AI- Skymet
Lightning strikes and thunderstorm activity have become frequent over eastern states covering West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Pockets of West Bengal and Jharkhand are susceptible to hazardous weather activity around this time of the season and continue till the middle of June. Kal-Baisakhi frequently occurs and is packed with gale-speed winds, severe thunderstorms and dangerous lightning. Bihar and Odisha also bear the risk of high-intensity thunderstorms in April and May.
Conditions are favorable for scattered thunderstorm activity over these states during this week and, even more so, in the next 48 hours. There is a cyclonic circulation over East Madhya Pradesh and an east-west trough extending up to North Coastal Odisha. Another trough is also extending across the Indo-Gangetic plains from West Uttar Pradesh to North Bengal across East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A strong stream of moist and warm southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal is penetrating up to Coastal Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal and the neighborhood. All these features are conducive to triggering thunder squalls over this region.
There have been scattered thunderstorms and rain covering Purulia, Bankura, Berhampore, Baripada, Gaya, Patna, Ranchi Jamshedpur in the past 24 hours. Weather activity was rather intense over West Bengal and coastal Odisha. Rising temperatures of 40°C and above are the additional trigger for the Odisha hinterland. Sambalpur, Bolangir, Titlagarh, Bhawanipatna exceeded 40°C yesterday.
Rain and thunderstorms with lightning are likely over Odisha and West Bengal covering Midnapore, Kalaikunda, Panagarh, Kolkata, Diamond Harbour, Baripada and Baleswar. Off the coastline of Odisha, thunderstorm activity is likely to extend from the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar to the Mayurbhanj-Ganjam-Gajapati axis. The weather activity may even reach Coastal Andhra Pradesh and reach Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. Exercise caution for severe lightning and gale-force strong winds during this week.
