Heavy rainfall on Sunday morning washed away harvested paddy crops in Salwaniya Bukhari village in Sheopur district Madhya Pradesh. Farmers scrambled to save their crops as water flooded the fields where cut paddy lay drying due to the unexpected weather.
The unseasonal rain has struck across Madhya Pradesh two weeks after the official monsoon departure. Bhopal has received intermittent drizzle since Saturday night. Indore also recorded rainfall on Sunday.
Four Districts Face Heavy Rain Warning
A depression in the Bay of Bengal triggered the new weather system. The Meteorological Department issued heavy rainfall alerts for four western districts over the next two days.
The Meteorological Center warned that Dhar, Barwani, Jhabua, and Alirajpur districts may receive two and a half to four and a half inches of rainfall in the next 24 hours.
Twenty additional districts face alerts for light rain and thundershowers. These include Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Agar-Malwa, Khargone, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Dewas, Sehore, Harda, Narmadapuram, Betul, Chhindwara, Seoni, Mandla, and Balaghat.
The Madhya Pradesh weather center warned that Dhar, Barwani, Jhabua, and Alirajpur districts may receive two and a half to four and a half inches of rainfall in the next 24 hours.
The weather department extended its alert through October 29. The Bhopal weather, Indore, Ujjain, Narmadapuram, and Jabalpur weather divisions will face the strongest impact.
Dense fog appeared in Bhopal on Saturday evening. The fog combined with cloud cover sharply reduced visibility. Meteorologists identified this as the first significant fog of the season.
Temperature Swings Follow Rainfall
Night temperatures across the state had dropped to 15 degrees Celsius in recent days. Saturday’s rain caused daytime temperatures to fall in multiple cities.
Meteorologists predict nighttime temperatures will drop further once the current rainfall ends. The temperature fluctuations mark a shift from the steady conditions of previous weeks.
The monsoon officially departed Madhya Pradesh on October 13. It had arrived on June 16 and remained active for three months and 28 days.
Weather experts attribute the continuing rain to monsoon remnants and the Bay of Bengal depression. The rainfall in late October extends beyond typical monsoon patterns.
The 2024 monsoon season delivered exceptional results for Madhya Pradesh. Thirty districts, including Bhopal and Gwalior weather regions, received above-normal rainfall.
Guna district recorded the highest seasonal total at 65.7 inches. Sheopur received 216.3 percent of its normal rainfall quota. The Gwalior-Chambal division recorded double its typical rainfall.
The state was forecast to receive 106 percent of normal rainfall. Instead, it received 15 percent more than predicted. Fifty districts across the Indore, Gwalior, Chambal, Jabalpur, Rewa, Shahdol, and Sagar divisions met their full rainfall quotas.
Weather experts said the strong monsoon secured adequate water for drinking and irrigation needs. Ground water levels are expected to rise across most regions.
Four Districts Fall Short
Four districts in the Bhopal, Ujjain, and Narmadapuram divisions received below-normal rainfall. Ujjain, Betul, and Sehore recorded between 94 and 98.6 percent of their quotas.
Shajapur faced the most severe shortage. The district received only 28.9 inches of rain, reaching just 81.1 percent of its quota. Officials classified Shajapur in the extreme rain deficiency category.
The current unseasonal rainfall may help reduce the deficit in affected districts. However, the timing poses risks for farmers who have already harvested their crops and left them in fields to dry.
