Relief from Bay to keep mercury under 40°C in Lko: IMD

After a high of 43 degrees Celsius last week, maximum temperatures in the state capital are likely to stay under 40 degrees Celsius for about a week, if the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is to be believed. This drop will due to Easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal that have provided some respite to several districts.

On Monday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 36.9 degrees, and a minimum temperature of 24 degrees. On Tuesday, mercury is likely to swivel between 38 and 24 degrees even as clear skies may give way to clouds later in the day. “This is as a result of the Easterly winds blowing in from the Bay of Bengal,” said Mohd Danish, a senior scientist at IMD, Lucknow. “This will last for about a week,” he said.

As for the rest of the state, the weather is most likely to be dry, with strong surface winds (25-35 kmph) over the areas, with no warnings. On Monday, some districts such as Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and others in eastern UP experienced strong winds of around 35 kmph, but no rains, he added.

He reiterated that the heatwave was still imminent, and is likely to go up to 45 degrees Celsius, if not more later in the summer. On Monday, five districts hit 40 degrees, namely Lakhimpur Kheri (40), Banda (41.2), Jhansi (42.4), Orai (42.8) and Agra (41.6). The lowest maximum temperatures were recorded at Gorakhpur with 30 degrees Celsius, followed by Ballia (33), Bahraich (33.6), Barabanki (34) and Ghazipur (34). The lowest minimum temperatures were recorded at Kanpur city with 18.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Barabanki (21), Gorakhpur (21.5), Meerut (21.6), and Etawah (21.7).

No heatwave warnings have been issued by the IMD for any part of UP for the time being,