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At 19.8°C, cold desert Keylong records its hottest day in a decade
Keylong, the administrative headquarters of tribal Lahaul-Spiti district, which is also called the cold desert, has recorded 19.8°C day temperature, the highest in April in over a decade
With an unusual heatwave sweeping across the Indian subcontinent, the comparatively colder regions like Lahaul - Spiti are also bearing the brunt of what is said to be the impact of global warming.
Keylong, the administrative headquarters of tribal Lahaul-Spiti district, which is also called the cold desert, has recorded 19.8°C day temperature, the highest in April in over a decade.
The previous highest temperature in Keylong was recorded at 19.6°C on April 20, 2012. The record rise in temperature is giving tough times to the residents of Himachal this year. For over six decades, the state is experienced record high temperatures in March and the trend is continuing in April.
Shimla MeT centre director Surender Paul said this year the state has witnessed record-breaking temperatures in March and April.
He said that districts like Kangra, Lahaul-Spiti, Shimla and Sirmaur are witnessing all-time high temperatures. The mercury has crossed 30°C in at least a dozen towns, which is a worrying trend as the temperatures had rarely gone so high in March and April.
Shimla recorded an all-time high of 18°C night temperature on March 17 March. The previous all-time high was 16.5°C on March 22, 2010.
Dharamshala recorded an all-time high maximum temperature of 33.2°C on 29 March. The previous high was 31.6°C in March 2010
On April 10, Una was the warmest. Hamirpur recorded the highest temperature of 36.9 °C, Bilaspur 36.5°C, Sundernagar 36.3°C and Kangra 36 °C.
“What is peculiar about temperatures this year is that they are consistently high,” he said.
The deficient rainfall has also been unusual in March and April. The rain deficit was 96% from March 1 to April 10 and 99% in the first 10 days of April.
While the heatwave has forced people to stay indoors, the drought-like conditions may also hit the food crops.
The last good rain fell in the state in the first week of February. Since then, a long dry spell has been going on in the state.
Relief likely this week
People may get relief from the scorching heat this week as the MeT department has predicted a spell of rain and thunderstorm from Tuesday till Friday as a western disturbance approaches the region.
Paul said this would bring the mercury down slightly providing much relief to the people. He said that a yellow alert has been sounded for thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then prolonged dry spell has resulted in drought-like conditions in Himachal Pradesh March 2022 was the driest month in the past 14 years with a rain deficit of 95 per cent after 2008 when rain deficit was 96 %. The state received only 0.5 mm of rain in 2004, a deficit which was highest at 99 per cent.
