Large swathes of North and Central India are likely to continue experiencing heat wave conditions in the coming few days, while Northeast India is forecast to receive heavy to very heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorm activities and gusty winds, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).In its All India Weather Summary & Forecast Bulletinissued by National Weather Forecasting Center at New Delhi on April 19, 2026, 20:00 hrs IST, IMD has brought out sharp disparity in weather scenarios prevailing in the country, which includes increasing temperature levels in plains along with active rain bearing systems prevailing over Himalayas and North-Eastern states of the country.
IMD forecast heat wave in India
IMD has forecast heatwave conditions in isolated pockets over West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha on April 20. Heat wave conditions will continue till April 23 over East UP, East Rajasthan and East MP.According to the weather bulletin, heatwave conditions may prevail in West Uttar Pradesh from April 20 to 22, and heatwave may persist in West Rajasthan from April 20 to 23. Meanwhile, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Odisha will experience heatwave conditions from April 21 to 23. Similarly, Jharkhand will have heatwave conditions on April 20 and 21.Maximum temperatures will increase slowly in the coming days. There might be an increase of 2 to 4 degree Celsius in maximum temperatures over northwest India in the next seven days. Similarly, maximum temperatures will increase by 2 to 3 degree Celsius over east India up to April 21. However, no change in temperature has been forecast over many other regions of India.
IMD weather forecast
Rainfall with thunderstorm over Northeast
When some regions of the country are expecting scorching heat, the northeastern region will experience widespread rainfall activity. According to the weather bulletin, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya will experience fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds up to April 23. Similarly, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura will have similar conditions up to April 22.There will be forecasted rains at some places in Assam and Meghalaya until April 21, according to the department. A very heavy rainfall will also be experienced in Arunachal Pradesh on April 20 and 21.These heavy rains might result in water logging in low-lying regions and cause disruption in transport facilities, localized floods and even landslides in certain hilly areas which may prove vulnerable to such disasters.In other parts of the nation, there will be rain, snowfall in elevated regions, thunderstorms and windy conditions witnessed in Western Himalayas, which includes Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and some parts of eastern India, Maharashtra and southern peninsular regions over the next few days.According to the IMD, different weather systems, including the western disturbances and cyclonic circulations, affect the present weather conditions in the nation.
