Capital logs 42.1°C, heatwave alerts for many parts of India

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued orange and yellow alerts as a heatwave swept across vast swathes of the country, with temperatures soaring up to 44°C in several regions.

Maximum temperatures are ranging between 42-45°C across multiple states including Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, northwest Telangana, north Chhattisgarh, north interior Odisha, northwest and southeast Jharkhand, west Gangetic West Bengal, southwest Bihar, north Madhya Pradesh, east Uttar Pradesh, south Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, and south Punjab, the IMD said. On Saturday, Kanpur recorded a maximum temperature 44.4°C; Prayagraj 44.8°C; Sultanpur 44.8°C; Varanasi 44.2°C; Gaya 44.6°C; Jharsuguda 44.7°C; and Delhi Ridge 43.3°C among others.

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“Maximum temperatures are above normal by 3-5 degrees C at many places over Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Northeast and west Rajasthan, North Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, adjoining Marathwada, northeast Jharkhand, west Gangetic West Bengal, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim,” the weather agency stated in its release.

Delhi on Saturday recorded its highest maximum temperature for the month of April in the last three years, with the mercury touching 42.1 degrees Celsius. According to the IMD, the last time a higher temperature was recorded in the capital in April was in 2022, when the maximum had reached 43.5 degrees Celsius.

Normally there are four to seven heat wave days between April and June but this time there could be between six and 10, IMD had forecast on April 1. Since early April, several stations across India have been recording heat waves.

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IMD has predicted heatwave conditions over plains of the northwest and adjoining central India till April 30, with an orange alert for excess heat issued for Rajasthan and a yellow alert for the rest of northwest India over the next two days. These alerts imply that local agencies should be prepared to take action to prevent heat-related disasters.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather, said, “Excess heat is likely to continue for a few more days and then minor relief is expected. Due to a cyclonic circulation over NW Rajasthan, there may be dust storms and strong winds in some areas.”

According to the IMD forecast, heatwave conditions are “very likely” in isolated pockets over Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh till May 2, over Punjab till May 1, and over Haryana till April 30. Jammu division is also expected to face heatwave conditions over the next two days.

The weather department defines a heatwave when the maximum temperature reaches 45 degrees Celsius in plains or when the daytime temperature exceeds the normal by 4.5 degrees.

In the northern region, Bathinda in Punjab recorded the highest maximum temperature at 43.9 degrees Celsius on Saturday, while Rohtak was the hottest place in Haryana at 43.6 degrees Celsius. Other cities in Punjab registered high temperatures including Patiala (42.8°C), Ludhiana (41.3°C), Pathankot (40.5°C), and Amritsar (40.2°C).

In contrast to the scorching conditions across most of the country, the Northeast is expected to receive some relief. The IMD has forecast widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds across northeast India during the next seven days.

“Under the influence of multiple weather systems, including upper air cyclonic circulations over central Assam and east Bihar, widespread rainfall with thunderstorm, lightning, and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is likely over Northeast India during the next 7 days,” the weather agency said. Thundersqualls with wind speeds reaching 50-60 kmph are likely over Assam and Meghalaya on April 27.

The weather department has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Delhi on Sunday, with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 41 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius, respectively. On Saturday evening several parts of central, south and east India showed several lightning incidents and thunderstorm warnings. IMD director general M Mohapatra said that there is active thunderstorm activity over east and northeast India and a part of south peninsula. “It is in association with many favourable factors like lower level cyclonic circulation, intense heating, moisture supply and upper level jet stream. This favourable conditions will continue over east and northeast India for next three days,” he said.