New Delhi: Temperatures have soared above 40 degrees in parts of the country this week, including in capital Delhi, but there will be some respite for parts of northwest India – it will rain in the next few days.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said a western disturbance will likely bring widespread rainfall over the Western Himalayan region, with scattered showers and heavy winds in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
But there is no respite for eastern India, which has been under severe heatwave conditions for the last week. The region will continue to see high temperatures that may even touch 44 degrees.
Very high temperatures are also forecast in isolated pockets of Gangetic West Bengal and Bihar, but will fall by 2 to 3 degrees after two days, the IMD said.
With over 40°C maximum temperatures that are above normal by at least 5°C, eastern parts of #India are witnessing the first proper #heatwave (pink & white shades) of the season. It'd peak on 19 Apr & abate from 20 Apr due to cloud cover & scattered thunderstorms. pic.twitter.com/oES2QaGD0F
— Dr Akshay Deoras (@akshaydeoras) April 16, 2023
Heatwave conditions have gripped coastal Andhra Pradesh since the last five days, Bihar for four days, and Punjab and Haryana for the last two days.
According to senior IMD official R.K. Jenamani, high temperatures at this time of the year is “nothing unusual”.
“The summer season has already set in, so these high temperatures are nothing unusual. These temperatures will abate over the next few days, as we have said in our statement,” he told ThePrint.
A western disturbance, along with cyclonic circulation over north Pakistan and Punjab will mitigate the heatwave conditions, the IMD said.
High temperatures have prompted schools to close in several states, including in Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura.
At least eleven people died on Sunday after suffering from sunstroke at an event attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the outskirts of Mumbai.
The IMD has advised farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana to complete the harvest of matured wheat, mustard and vegetables “at the earliest”, and move the produce to “to safer places” to protect from heat and rain. It also advised putting up hail nets and irrigating crops wherever necessary.
In its long range forecast, issued on 28 February, the IMD warned above normal temperatures were likely over northeast India, east and central India and some parts of northwest India through the months of March, April, and May. Normal to below normal maximum temperatures are most likely over remaining parts of the country in the same period, it said.
Rising temperatures come amid fears of a below normal monsoon this year. Private forecaster Skymet Weather said last week that monsoon would likely bring below normal rain, with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra being worst hit.
Scientists are also increasingly certain that an El Nino – a climate phenomenon generally known to adversely affect the Indian monsoon – will set in later this year.
In its own monsoon forecast, the IMD said any effects of an El Nino will become visible in the latter half of the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September.
Also read: Heatwave warning in parts of Bihar for 2 days from Tuesday