The people of Dehradun continued to reel under the heat spell with the maximum temperatures surging to above 38 degree Celsius on Tuesday.
With the spell remaining unabated, people in their hordes from Dehradun and other parts of the State are flocking to the cooler cities, like Mussoorie, Sahastradhara, Guchupani and Dhanaulti to beat the insufferable heat.
Some of the local shopkeepers at Sahastradhara said that they are happy with the soaring mercury. “This is what is bringing people here to bathe in the cold water of the springs,” said Kusum who earns her living by selling cold drinks and snacks.
Meanwhile, despite the Met official’s claim on Monday that maximum temperatures would dip by a few notches following hail/thunder squall in the plains, the people continued to suffer with rain/squall remaining elusive till the evening.
The highest maximum temperature of the state 40.0°C was recorded at Pantnagar and Jolly Grant while the lowest minimum temperature 15.2°C was recorded at New Tehri.
Thin traffic was witnessed on the city roads and the number of buyers at the markets was small like the past few days thanks to the sweltering heat continuing. The plight of the students was pathetic. They are eagerly looking forward to the start of the summer vacation. Abhishek Anand, student of a public school, said that they face scorching heat when they return home from the schools at noon. “I am happy that my school is set to be closed on May 20,” he added.
By 8.30 am, 40 mm rainfall was reported from Ukhimath while 20 mm rainfall was reported from Dhachula and some other places in the mountainous region.
Meteorological centre director Bikram Singh said on Tuesday that the weather forecast for Dehradun on Wednesday is mainly clear to partly cloudy sky with the possibility of rain/thunder showers accompanied with hail/thunder squall lashing in some areas. “Hail/thunder squall is likely to occur at isolated places especially in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital and Pithoragarh districts during the next 24 hours from Wednesday morning. Besides, light to moderate rainfall might occur at isolated places in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand till May 20 from May 17,” Singh added.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 37 ºC and 23ºC respectively in Dehradun on Wednesday. The maximum temperature settled at 38.1ºC (three degree above the normal) while the minimum at 22.9ºC (two degree above the normal) in Dehradun.
It was 28.5ºC (four degree above the normal) and 16 ºC (four degree above the normal) in Mukteshwar and 40 ºC (three degree above the normal) and 22.2ºC (four degree above the normal) in Pantnagar. In Tehri district, maximum temperature was reported as 28 degree Celsius while the minimum was 15.2 degree Celsius on Tuesday.