NW, central India get hottest April in 122 years

As a whole, India has recorded the fourth hottest April ever.

New Delhi: Northwest and central India have experienced the hottest April this season in 122 years, since the India Meteorological Department started keeping records. The rest of the country could see temperatures lower than normal in the month of May, but there would be no respite for northwest and central, the weather bureau said in its monthly forecast on Saturday.

Delhi saw 43.5°C on Saturday while Gurugram hit 46.5°C. (RAJ K RAJ/HT)

Delhi continued to reel under a heatwave on Saturday as the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory was recorded at 43.5 degrees Celsius, five notches above the season’s average. This was the second hottest April temperature for the national capital in 52 years.

India as a whole has recorded the fourth hottest April ever.

 

Northwest India sizzled at an average maximum temperature of 35.9 degrees Celsius in April, topping the previous record of 35.42 degrees in 2010, according to M Mohapatra, director general of meteorology. In central India, the average maximum was 37.78 degrees, marginally higher than 37.75 recorded in April 1973.

The high heat in north, northwest and central India were in part due to the absence of weather systems that bring rains or give rise to cloudy skies that can lower the mercury, Mohapatra said.

Night temperatures also remained above normal in April, with the average minimum temperature over northwest India settling at 19.44 degrees, 1.75 degrees above normal.

People will have to not only bear with hot days, but nights are also likely to be warmer than usual in May, the Met Department predicted. The states likely to be hit by higher than normal temperatures in May include Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Parts of northwest and central India are also expected to receive deficit rainfall in the month.

In the rest of India, temperatures are expected to veer between normal and below normal, IMD’s monthly forecast said.

India also recorded its warmest March in 122 years, with the average maximum temperature across the country clocking in at 1.86 degrees above normal, official data showed.

Parts of India are experiencing intense heat primarily because of scanty rainfall, clear skies that allow the sun to reach the surface directly, and dry and hot winds from Rajasthan and across the border, weather scientists said.

“This started in March because we did not see any western disturbance that month,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster. There are usually 2-3 moderate intensity western disturbances in March that bring rains or snowfall in the uplands, which help in cooling somewhat, he said.

“In April, we did get some dust storms and light rain around April 21, but the intensity was weak,” Palawat said. “Usually, this time around we get some pre-monsoon activity and even hailstorms in parts of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana that bring the temperature down.”

Although there is a weather system developing from May 2 to May 6, Palawat said the relief is likely to be scarce and short-lived.