#WhatTheFAQ: Unseasonal rains tour India. Which states have been alerted? What about ODI match on March 19?

It's time to pull out umbrellas and raincoats if you are heading out. Or else the best solution is to remain indoors. This is because, ahead of summer, unseasonal showers are touring different states across India. Recently, a few districts of Telangana have experienced heavy rains with hailstorms and a few states are on orange and yellow alert for the weekend, March 18 and 19, 2023. Although reports say that rains will subside after March 20, the hailstorms and heavy rains in a few states have taken lives and damaged property. 

Which states are these? What's the weather like today and tomorrow? Which districts have received heavy hailstorms? #WhatTheFAQ is here to disclose all these details. 

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Hailstorms hailing Southern states?

Well, hailstorms made residents witness Kashmir in Telangana as the roads, trees and many other places in a few districts were ice-covered. Namely, Vikarabad received a heavy hailstorm on March 16 and today, Ibrahimpatnam, a village in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana received a hailstorm. To note, as per reports, in the entire Telangana state, Sangareddy district received the highest rainfall (75 mm) in the past 24 hours. Other districts that received heavy rainfall are Vikarabad (45.8 mm) and Mahabubnagar (42 mm).

Meanwhile in Kerala, a hailstorm was reported in the Swamiyalakudi Ooru (tribal colony) at Vattavada village in the Idukki district on Friday, March 17. Chennai witnessed a hailstorm in Velachery on March 17. Similarly, Karnataka’s Kalaburagi witnessed a hailstorm on Friday evening. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers today, March 18. 

Moreover, the untimely showers and downpours killed five persons and damaged crops spread across nearly 4,950 hectares in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, the local administration said on Friday, as stated in a report by India Today. 

Residents of districts across these states who experienced hailstorms have posted videos and pictures on social applications like Facebook and Twitter. 
 

What's the weather update for the weekend?

As reported by The Weather Channel, here is the breakdown of the weather update across India. 

Northwest India: IMD predicts scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall for Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from Thursday to Sunday (March 16-19). These rains could even be accompanied by lightning-laden thunderstorms and quite strong winds (speed 30-40 kmph). Additionally, hailstorm season is about to make a widespread appearance, with hail activity forecast over Uttarakhand from Thursday to Sunday, and over North Rajasthan from Friday to Sunday.

West and central India: Scattered to fairly widespread light or moderate levels of rain will batter Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh from Thursday to Sunday. However, the intensity of thunderstorms is likely to subside from Friday onwards and the IMD has accordingly downgraded the alert level to yellow from Friday to Monday.

South: Over the next few days, this trough will draw in moisture, bringing scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall with lightning, thunderstorms and gusty winds (30-40 kmph) to North interior Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka from Thursday to Sunday as well. Moreover, all districts except Kannur and Kasaragod are likely to receive light showers today (March 18) and tomorrow (March 19)

East and Northeast India: Fairly widespread light or moderate showers with thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds (speed 30-40 kmph) will prevail over the Eastern and Northeastern states from Thursday to Sunday. 

What did IMD report?

In its forecast bulletin, IMD said, "Scattered to fairly widespread light/moderate rainfall with thunderstorm, lightning & gusty winds likely over north interior Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka during 18th-19th March 2023. Isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Coastal Andra Pradesh during 18th-19th; Telangana on 18th March 2023."
 

What'll happen to the ODI match in Visakhapatnam?

As light to heavy rain is expected in Andhra Pradesh tomorrow, March 19, the weather may play a spoilsport during the One Day International (ODI) match between India and Australia. Additionally, there is a high chance of thunderstorms with heavy rains occurring in and around Visakhapatnam during the evening or night, as stated in a report by The Hindu,

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday stated that light to moderate rains, thundershowers and gusty winds are likely to occur at isolated places over Andhra Pradesh from March 18 to 20. Many parts of the state even received rainfall (30 mm and above) on Friday. Karamchedu in the Bapatla district recorded the highest rainfall of 60 mm in the state, the IMD added.