As many as 22 towns and cities in northwest India have reported maximum temperatures above 44 degrees Celsius on Sunday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the heat wave spell in isolated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand will continue for up to two more days and abatement thereafter.
The IMD issued a yellow alert warning of a heatwave in parts of Delhi on Monday. Of the 703 districts across India, 578 have received deficient rainfall or no rainfall so far.
Weather experts have attributed the heat wave spell to the lack of strong western disturbances and incessant hot and dry westerly winds. The IMD said moisture-laden easterly winds will provide significant relief from the searing heat from June 16 onwards.
Northwest and central India is reeling under a heatwave spell since June 2 due to an onslaught of hot and dry westerly winds. Senior IMD scientist R K Jenamani said maximum temperatures in Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India will come down by a few notches over the weekend but no major relief is likely till June 15.
As per the IMD, the minimum temperature of the national capital on Sunday settled at 32.8 degrees Celsius, which is five notches above normal for this time of year. The Safdarjung Observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 43.9 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal.
The maximum temperature settled at 46.7 degrees Celsius at the Sports Complex automatic weather station near the Akshardham temple, making it the hottest place in the city.
The IMD predicted maximum temperatures to dip by two to three degrees Celsius in northwest India starting Tuesday. Between June 16 and June 22, the maximum temperatures are likely to remain "below-normal to near-normal", it said in an extended range forecast.
"No significant heatwave likely over any part of the country during the week (June 16-June 22)," it said. On the monsoon front, the IMD said an increase in rainfall activity in several states including Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Gangetic West Bengal with thunderstorm/lightning/gusty winds between June 14 and 16.
As per IMD, the conditions are favorable for further advance of monsoon into some parts of the north Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Konkan, some parts of Gujarat state, most parts of Madhya Maharashtra, entire Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, some parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Westcentral & northwest Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours.
Similarly, conditions would continue to become favourable for further advance of monsoon into some more parts of north Arabian Sea, Gujarat state, some parts of Marathwada, some more parts of Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, most parts of Bay of Bengal, entire Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, some parts of Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar during subsequent three days.
“Fall in maximum temperatures by 2-3 degree Celsius is very likely over central India during next three days and no significant change thereafter. No significant change in maximum temperatures very likely over East India during next three days and gradual fall by 2-3 degree Celsius thereafter,” it said.
The Skymet weather said that India recorded 43 per cent deficient rainfall since the onset of the southwest monsoon 29May 29, 2022. Monsoon rains have skipped Kerala this season,
All 14 districts of the state have witnessed extremely poor rainfall between 01st – 10th June 2022. On the basis of geography, the state’s districts have been grouped in to 3 parts : North Kerala – Kasaragode, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode : Central Kerala - Idukki, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Palakkad : South Kerala – Alappuzha, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram.
The central district of Kerala has observed 60 per cent rainfall deficiency, Kasaragode, Wayanad and Palakkad have witnessed over 80 per cent deficient rainfall so far. Between 01-10 June, the state of Kerala has recoded 71.5mm of rainfall against the normal of 182.2mm. The state is categorized as ‘large deficit’ with a shortfall of 61% during this period.