Mercury breaches 40°C mark first time this season; Prayagraj hottest in UP
Yellow alert for heat in 13 districts; Lucknow, which recorded the highest temperature of this season so far at 39.2 degrees, also saw the hottest March since 2022
LUCKNOW The mercury breached the 40-degree Celsius mark for the first time this season with Prayagraj recording the highest maximum temperature in UP at 41.6 degrees, which was 6.2 degrees above normal. Sangam City saw the second hottest March since 2022. The highest March temperature was 37.6 degrees in 2024, 37.6 degrees in 2023 and 41.9 degrees in 2022, said a Met department official.
Three other meteorological stations where the day temperatures crossed 40 degrees were: Jhansi 41.1 (highest since 2022), Hamirpur 40.6 and Kanpur (IAF) 40 degrees. Hot day conditions prevailed in these districts.
The Met office issued a yellow alert for heat in 13 UP districts for the next 24 hours. These included Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Siddharth Nagar, Kanpur City, Rae Bareli and surrounding areas.
Lucknow, which recorded the highest temperature of this season so far at 39.2 degrees (4.9 degrees above normal), also saw the hottest March since 2022. In March 2024, highest day temperature was 39 degrees and in March 2022 it was 35.7 degrees. The Met office forecast clear sky in Lucknow with strong surface winds speed (20-30 kmph) in daytime. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 39 and 19 degrees, respectively. The weather is likely to be dry over UP with hot day condition at isolated places over the southern parts of the state.
“Though heat wave criteria has not been satisfied, many stations crossing 37˚C, with departures of 3˚C or more, reported hot day conditions. Similar conditions are likely till Thursday. There will be a gradual reduction in temperature from March 28 after influence of strong surface winds of the order of 20-30 kmph or more followed by gradual increase again after suppression of winds from March 30,” said Atul Kumar, scientist at Lucknow Met office.
The maximum temperature is likely to gradually rise by 2 to 5 degrees over the next two days and fall by 2 to 5 degrees thereafter. Likewise, the minimum temperature is likely to rise by 2 to 3 degrees over the next 2 days and gradually fall by 2-4 degrees thereafter, according to the IMD bulletin.
Night temperatures were below normal (minus 1.6 °C to minus 3°C) in Prayagraj division, above normal (+1.6 °C to +3°C) in Kanpur, Moradabad, Jhansi, Meerut divisions and normal (minus 1.5 °C to 1.5 °C) in the remaining divisions. The lowest minimum temperature in the state was recorded at 14°C in Ayodhya.
