NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (
IMD
) has forecast that
heatwave
to severe heatwave conditions will persist across many parts of
North India
on Wednesday, followed by a gradual reduction.
This change is attributed to an approaching
western disturbance
towards northwest India.
Heatwave conditions were observed in most areas of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.
Parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and northern Madhya Pradesh also experienced heatwave conditions.
Isolated pockets in northeast Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, northwest Rajasthan, northwest Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal and the Jammu division reported heatwave conditions as well.
The IMD noted that nighttime temperatures ranged from warm to severely warm in some areas of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and certain parts of Rajasthan and Bihar.
Maximum temperatures in the plains of North India were between 44-46 degrees Celsius. These temperatures were above normal by 5-8 degrees Celsius across the region.
The highest recorded
temperature
in the country was 47.6 degrees Celsius at Prayagraj (East Uttar Pradesh).
The IMD reported, “Isolated exceptionally heavy rainfall occurred over Meghalaya, heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls occurred at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Bihar, heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places over Tamil Nadu; heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Telangana, South Interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema.”
Conditions are becoming favorable for the southwest
monsoon
to advance further into various regions. These regions include more parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and the northwest Bay of Bengal.
The monsoon is expected to progress into some parts of Gangetic West Bengal, the remaining parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and certain areas of Bihar and Jharkhand over the next three to four days.
