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Heatwave watch in Delhi, other states today, tomorrow: 10 updates
With mercury already soaring, there is an anticipation that summers are likely to be harsher.
Delhi and several other states in north India, including Haryana and Rajasthan, have been told to brace for heatwave conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday by the weather office as the some parts witness unusually high temperatures in the month of March. With mercury already soaring, there is an anticipation that summers are likely to be harsher. In its daily bulletin, the IMD (India Meteorological Department) said that areas in east Rajasthan, south Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand were likely to see temperatures shooting past the 40 degree-mark.
Here are top weather updates and pointers on heatwave:
1. Delhi on Monday recorded its hottest day of the season at 39.1 degrees celsius, seven notches above the season's average, news agency PTI reported. The air quality in the national capital, which has been repeatedly an issue of concern, remained in the poor category (reading 272) on Tuesday morning. The city will see heatwave conditions on Wednesday also.
2. At least 10 districts in Jharkhand are likely to come under the tight grip of a heatwave for three days from Wednesday, weather department officials have said. Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Chatra, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Simdega, East and West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharswan are the districts that may be affected.
3. The wind speed is slowing down over plains, and temperatures "will increase leading to heatwave over south Haryana, parts of Delhi and north Rajasthan. No chances rain for next 8 to 10 days," private forecasting agency Skymet's vice president Mahesh Palawat said in a tweet.
4. A reason for the spike in temperatures was the hot wind blowing from southern Pakistan and Rajasthan, IMD director general M Mohapatra said on Monday. “One of the reasons for very high temperatures is the rain deficit. But the wind direction over north India is presently also from the direction of South Pakistan and adjoining Rajasthan. These are very hot and dry regions,” Mohapatra said.
5. Warnings have also been sounded in Uttar Pradesh's southern parts, Vidharbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra and Saurashtra-Kutch region of Gujarat.
6. "Students and their parents need to pay special attention in the afternoon when the standard 10-12 exams have also started," Gujarat minister Nimishaben Suthar wrote on Twitter.
7. Odisha has also been warned of heat wave conditions for the next five days.
8. Heat wave could lead to moderate health concern, the weather office says, for vulnerable people, and infants, elderly, people with chronic diseases.
9. Heatwave "need not be considered till maximum temperature of a station reaches atleast 40°C for plains and atleast 30°C for hilly regions," according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
10. The heatwave conditions are usually witnessed between the months of March and June and sometimes they stretch beyond July.
(With inputs from PTI)
