Cyclone Asani brings some relief, but heat wave returns with vengeance

Heat wave conditions prevailed in five districts in Madhya Pradesh with Ratlam recording the highest maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius in the state on Monday (May 9).

This was the third highest maximum temperature in India after Barmer and Bikaner which sizzled at 46.3 degrees Celsius and 46.2 degrees Celsius, respectively, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Madhya Pradesh is unlikely to see a let up in the sultry weather soon with the Met department forecasting that heat wave conditions may prevail in some parts of the state for four more days.

A trough was running from Punjab to northwest Madhya Pradesh across Haryana and Rajasthan, a senior meteorologist with IMDs Bhopal office said. He said that heat wave conditions prevailed at Ratlam, Rajgarh, Guna, Khargone and Khandwa.

The maximum temperature of the four major cities in MP – Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior was recorded at 42.9 degrees Celsius – two notches above normal, 42.8 degrees Celsius, also two degrees above normal, 42 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal, and 42. 4 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal, respectively.

In several districts of Gujarat, the weather department has issued a heat wave alert until May 11. Kutch , Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, and Patan will experience heatwave on May 10 and 11, according to the IMD forecast, which said Ahmedabad is expected to see a maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius Tuesday.

Yellow alert in Delhi

Meanwhile, in Delhi, the IMD has issued a yellow alert, warning of a fresh heatwave spell which may see temperatures soaring to 44 degrees Celsius by Wednesday.

The heatwave spell may continue till May 15 as a mitigating weather system is unlikely to affect northwest India over the next one week, weather experts said.

Though there won’t be a steep rise in temperatures in most parts of Delhi as easterly winds are prevailing in the region under the impact of Cyclone Asani over the Bay of Bengal, the increase in humidity levels can cause discomfort, said Mahesh Palawat, Vice-President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.

On Monday, the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s base station, recorded a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature settled at 27.6 degrees Celsius.

Back-to-back patchy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds had provided some respite from the intense heat last week. The mercury started creeping up on the weekend and hit the 42-degree mark at some places on Sunday.

Delhi had witnessed a hot and dry March, gauging nil rainfall against the normal of 15.9 mm. It got 0.3 mm of rainfall in April against a monthly average of 12.2 mm.

A heatwave at the month-end had sent the mercury soaring to 46 and 47 degrees Celsius in several parts of Delhi.

Generally, temperatures in the national capital hover around 39 degrees in the first week of May, by end of May normal reaches 40 degrees. Now, temperatures will be at least 4-5 degrees above the normal levels. This may result in heat wave and even severe heat wave conditions in the next few days.

(With inputs from agencies)