NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted that severe heatwave conditions would persist across many parts of North India on Wednesday, followed by a gradual reduction due to an approaching western disturbance towards northwest India.
Heatwave conditions have been observed in most Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh areas. Parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and northern Madhya Pradesh have also experienced heatwave conditions. Isolated pockets in northeast Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, northwest Rajasthan, northwest Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, and the Jammu division have also reported heatwave conditions.
The IMD noted that nighttime temperatures ranged from warm to severely warm in some areas of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and certain parts of Rajasthan and Bihar. Maximum temperatures in the plains of North India ranged between 44 and 46 degrees Celsius, which is 5 to 8 degrees Celsius above normal for the region. The highest recorded temperature in the country was 47.6 degrees Celsius in Prayagraj (East Uttar Pradesh).
The IMD reported, “Isolated exceptionally heavy rainfall occurred over Meghalaya, heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls occurred at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Bihar, and heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places over Tamil Nadu. Heavy rainfall also occurred at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Telangana, South Interior Karnataka, and Rayalaseema.”
Conditions are becoming favorable for the southwest monsoon to advance further into various regions, including more parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and the northwest Bay of Bengal. Over the next three to four days, the monsoon is expected to progress into some parts of Gangetic West Bengal, the remaining parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and certain areas of Bihar and Jharkhand.
