The Department of Meteorology issued a red lightning alert for 16 districts and amber alerts for nine districts on Monday, while the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) separately warned of landslide risk in parts of five districts as adverse weather intensified across the island.
The Met Department advisory, effective until 11.30 pm, covers Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva, North-Central and Eastern provinces, along with the Kurunegala, Mullaittivu, Mannar and Vavuniya districts. Thundershowers accompanied by severe lightning were forecast to occur in some places after 1 pm, with the risk of temporary localised strong winds during the storms.
The public was urged to take adequate precautions to minimise damage from lightning activity.
The NBRO followed with a Level 1 (Yellow) landslide warning effective until 9 pm, advising residents in the affected divisional secretariat areas to remain watchful.
- Badulla District: Passara DSD and surrounding areas
- Kurunegala District: Ridigama DSD and surrounding areas
- Matale District: Naula DSD and surrounding areas
- Monaragala District: Ambanganga Korale, Rattota, Badalkumbura and Wellawaya DSDs and surrounding areas
- Ratnapura District: Godakawela DSD and surrounding areas
The pair of advisories follows a wave of pre-monsoonal weather activity. A low-pressure system developing near Sri Lanka was forecast to bring sustained rainfall through the week, with the Met Department flagging that southwest monsoon conditions could establish by around May 20. The Irrigation Department opened spill gates at 18 reservoirs over the weekend as inflows rose sharply.
The NBRO had earlier issued landslide warnings for Badulla and Monaragala districts on May 10, with the current advisory extending the alert zone northwards.
Sources: Newswire · Ada Derana.
