A thunderstorm warning that spread panic in Delhi and the National Capital Region on May 8 may have been inaccurate. The India Meteorological Department went overboard with the severe warning, and predicted wind systems that did not materialise, the Centre’s earth sciences secretary told PTI.

The IMD is part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. On May 8, the weather bureau forecast that parts of northern India, including Delhi, would see a thunderstorm and squall with winds up to 50 km to 70 km an hour.

The Delhi government asked schools to not hold outdoor activities and extracurricular activities that evening, and the Delhi metro prepared for reduced train speeds. The Haryana government had cancelled holidays of all officials and asked emergency services to stay alert.

“There was a hype created by the people because it [the storm] had caused a lot of damage on May 2 and 3,” the ministry’s Secretary M Rajeevan told PTI. “When they [the IMD] issued the fresh forecast for the remaining days, they thought the same kind of severity will be there. [But] it was not there.”

He agreed when asked whether the IMD had overreacted. However, he said it had not goofed up in issuing a warning for the high-intensity thunderstorms on May 2 and 3, when over 120 people were killed in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Rajeevan said predicting thunderstorms was difficult as compared to cyclones, and attempts were being made to issue a warning about six hours in advance.

“We predicted that there was a probability of a thunderstorm on May 2 and 3, two or three days before it hit the region,” Rajeevan told PTI. “But the question was exactly at what time would it start, intensify and dissipate. We cannot tell that two days before [it happens].”

He said the IMD had not “goofed up”, as it was the best it could have done with the technology available to it.