Patna: The India Meteorological Department, Patna, expects heavy rainfall in some parts of the state towards the end of this month.

The all-India weather warnings report stated that favourable conditions for the occurrence of thunderstorms and heavy rainfall at isolated places in Bihar along with squalls are likely to develop.

The conditions will also occur over parts of eastern India such as Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura during the 29th to 31st of this month.

A thunderstorm is a sudden electrical discharge manifested by lightning and a rumbling sound, while squall is a strong wind that rises suddenly and lasts for at least one minute. "The northeastern parts of Bihar are likely to experience rainfall. It is possible that Patna will also experience thunderstorm with rain," said Somendu Sengupta, a scientist at the IMD's Patna office.

The maximum temperature departure remained between 1.6°C and 3°C at many parts of the country, including Bihar on Tuesday.

However in rest of the country, dry weather will prevail.Patna and Gaya recorded 37.3°C and 38.8°C maximum temperatures, respectively, on Tuesday with a departure of 3°C. The seven-day forecast also shows a possibility of thunderstorm accompanied with rain in parts of the state.

The east-west trough from east Bihar to Manipur now runs from northern parts of the state to Manipur across south Assam and extends up to 0.9km above mean sea level.

Besides, the maximum temperature is likely to fall by 24°C over east India between March 30 and April 1.

When a warning of thunderstorm and heavy rain is issued, strong rainfall could occur for 30 to 45 minutes. However the possibility of hailstorm is negligible because it needs strong heating which does not occur in March. The squalls formed due to heating of the surface in such situations witness strong gusty winds with lightning, said Parthasarthi, secretary, Metereological Society, Patna chapter.