GUWAHATI: Thunderstorm activity at isolated pockets of the Northeast will continue during the advancement of the southwest monsoon towards the region, the Regional Meteorological Office here said.
Over the past few weeks, thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty wind up to a speed of 40kmph have occurred at isolated places over the Northeast, including Meghalaya and Assam.
Asked till how long the phenomena was likely to continue, Sunit Das, scientist at the Borjhar-based RMC told The Shillong Times on Thursday that thunderstorm activity would continue till the advancement of the monsoon towards the region.
“These are basically pre-monsoon thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds. Even as there is no positive indication when monsoon will hit Kerala, we expect that it might hit the southern coastal state on June 6 and the Northeast in the subsequent period,” Das said.
He however said the pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity does not remain confined to a particular place for long and occurs at isolated places of the Northeast.
“Like today, we noticed thunderstorm activity over Meghalaya, southern Assam including Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup districts,” he said.
Cyclonic thunderstorms accompanied by high-speed winds have over the past few weeks damaged several hundreds of houses in villages apart from government buildings in towns near the Assam-Meghalaya border in Kamrup and Goalpara districts.