Heat wave strikes pockets of North, coastal India

Several parts of North India reeled under intense heatwave, with several districts in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh posting temperatures greater than 45 degrees Celsius or five degrees above what’s normal.

Also read: Heat wave likely to abate only after May 28: IMD

Churu in Rajasthan registered 47 degrees Celsius, while Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh recorded 46 degrees Celsius. District and State administrations warned people to take precautions.

On Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast “heatwave to severe heatwave conditions” over Northwest, Central and adjoining Peninsular India for most of the week along with heavy rains over the Northeast.

Many parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra also saw temperatures soar above 42 degrees Celsius.

Dry northwesterly winds

The heat was due to dry northwesterly winds prevailing over Northwest and Central India. Meteorologists have said that temperatures in May—on average—was lower than what’s usual for the month mostly due to several rain-bearing Western Disturbances. High summer temperatures in North India are one of the factors important for drawing in the monsoon rains into Kerala. However cyclone Amphan delayed this advent and the IMD said it expected the monsoon to hit Kerala only on June 5. Skymet, a private weather forecast agency, disagrees and says monsoon rains are likely to hit Kerala by May 28.

Beginning Saturday, May temperatures are finally in the realm of what’s normal for this time of the year in North India. Sunday was the first time, the IMD issued a ‘severe heatwave warning’ for the season, though in March it warned that summer temperatures, on average, would be a degree greater than normal.

A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is at least 40 degrees Celsius and the departure from normal temperature is 4.5 degrees Celsius to 6.4 degrees Celsius.

For the plains, a heatwave is declared when the actual maximum temperature is 45 degrees Celsius and severe heatwave when it is 47 degrees Celsius or above.

The IMD issues colour-coded warnings depending on the intensity of any weather system in ascending order — green, yellow, orange and red.