Desert state of Rajasthan on red alert: Cyclone Biparjoy to cause extremely heavy rains on June 16-17

Thursday, June 15: Cyclone Biparjoy is ready to touch down over India's west coast today. The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm is expected to make landfall near Gujarat’s Jakhau Port by Thursday evening, and gradually lose steam as it continues to move inland — all while triggering potentially catastrophic torrents of rain in the region.

Post-landfall, Biparjoy is expected to continue its northeastward movement until it eventually fizzles out over Rajasthan. But even during its gradual deintensification from a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm to a low-pressure area, the system will carry on dumping an ocean-worth of rain over the desert state.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwestern parts of Rajasthan will be in for heavy to very heavy (64.5 mm-224.5 mm) and even extremely heavy downpours (more than 224.5 mm) this Friday and Saturday (June 16-17). The intense precipitation will slowly spill into southeast Rajasthan by Saturday.

And while not as intense, some light or moderate showers may also be observed in most parts of the state. In fact, some experts reckon some parts of western and northwestern India may end up accumulating more than the average June rainfall within the next two days! Therefore, it is advisable for the regional residents to keep an umbrella handy this weekend, even if they do not live in areas expected to beat the brunt of the cyclone’s impact.

Moreover, squalls winds reaching 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph are likely over South Rajasthan from Friday noon to evening, followed by winds at 35-45 kmph, gusting to 55 kmph till Saturday midnight.

Given these predictions, the IMD has issued a yellow watch (meaning be updated) over Rajasthan for today, but this will quickly escalate. On Friday, the West Rajasthan subdivision will be placed under a red warning — the highest level of warning that cautions residents to take necessary action against the hazardous weather.

Thereafter, the red warning will also spread to East Rajasthan on Saturday. After that, both subdivisions will be downgraded to an orange alert (meaning be prepared) for Sunday before deintensifying back into yellow for Monday.

In particular, the following districts within the state will remain on orange alert and red warning in the coming days:

Saturday, June 17: Pali and Jalore on red warning; Jaisalmer, Sirohi and Barmer on orange alert

Sunday, June 18: Pali and Jalore on red warning; Ajmer, Bhilwara, Rajsamand, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Sirohi and Barmer on orange alert

Monday, June 19: Jaipur, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali and Udaipur on orange alert

Further, as East India reels under searing heatwaves, Biparjoy's rainy and windy shenanigans will induce a distinct chill in the west. IMD forecasts that daytime temperatures in Northwest India will likely fall by 2-4°C over the next five days.

As the cyclone gradually deintensifies, the frightening conditions will eventually lull out in a few days. But while the tumultuous times persist, it is imperative that you take the necessary steps to protect yourself against any potential danger from the weather behemoth.