Strong winds hit Delhi half-an-hour before midnight on Monday, a harbinger of the formidable thunderstorm that is expected to hit the national capital region at dawn today. By 11 pm on Monday, Gurgaon had started experiencing strong winds, with videos posted online by residents showing trees swaying violently in the dark. Many areas in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are also showing moderate thunderstorm conditions. Following warnings from the met department, schools have declared holiday in the afternoon and the police are on alert. Delhi Metro has said it will exercise extreme caution in case wind speed exceeds 90 km. The bad weather is expected to extend across 20 states, which are on alert following last week's dust storm, which claimed more than 120 lives across five states.