Banda, hottest in U.P., sizzles at 46.4°C
While isolated parts of the state continue to experience heatwave conditions, the IMD has predicted rain and thundershowers at isolated locations.
Even as maximum temperatures have relented in many parts of the state, Banda continues to reel under an intense heatwave for the past week. On Sunday, the district recorded the highest temperature in the state at 46.4°C—2.9 degrees above normal. Earlier, Banda was the hottest in the country at 46.2°C on May 16 and 44.2°C on May 13.
No major change is expected in day or night temperatures across the state over the next five days.
The day before, the health department issued advisories urging people to stay indoors between 12 noon and 4 pm, remain hydrated, and take extra care of the elderly and children.
While isolated parts of the state continue to experience heatwave conditions, the IMD has predicted rain and thundershowers at isolated locations. A warning has been issued for thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds (speed 40–50 kmph) in some parts of the state. The forecast for Lucknow is mainly clear skies, with maximum and minimum temperatures expected to be around 40°C and 28°C, respectively.
“There is a possibility of sporadic rainfall with lightning storms at some places in the northern part of the state along with the movement of clouds,” said Atul Kumar Singh, a senior scientist at the Lucknow Met office.
“And thereafter, around May 21 and 22, due to the possible low-pressure area in the Arabian Sea, the moist south-western winds coming from the Arabian Sea in the state may merge with the south-eastern winds over the state, due to which the regional distribution and intensity of rainfall is likely to increase,” he said.
During this period, the temperature is likely to remain around normal in other parts except the southern part of the state.
On Sunday, Lucknow recorded 39.4°C and 27.6°C. In the past 24 hours, very light to light rain or thundershowers were reported at isolated places in western Uttar Pradesh and some parts of eastern UP. Strong gusty winds were also recorded in isolated areas across both meteorological divisions of the state.
There was no significant change in night temperatures. However, they remained above normal (+1.6°C to +3°C) in Kanpur (Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat), Varanasi (Varanasi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur), Prayagraj (Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh), Moradabad (Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal), Jhansi (Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur) and Bareilly (Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur) divisions. They were normal (-1.5°C to +1.5°C) in the remaining divisions.
The lowest minimum temperature in the state was recorded in Meerut at 24.6°C.
