Severe heatwave singes north, central India; Delhi sizzles at nearly 50°C
10 weather stations record highest-ever maximum temperature and highest for May; mercury crosses 50°C in Rajasthan’s Churu and Haryana’s Sirsa
Large parts of northern and central India were in the grip of extreme heatwave conditions on Tuesday (May 28) with the mercury crossing 50 degrees Celsius in Rajasthan’s Churu and Haryana’s Sirsa and settling nine notches above normal in Delhi.
At least three weather stations in Delhi recorded maximum temperatures of 49 degrees Celsius or more. Mungeshpur and Narela in Delhi clocked 49.9 degrees followed by Najafgarh at 49.8 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
This was the highest maximum temperature recorded in the capital this season. However, Mungeshpur and Narela weather stations came up in 2022 and have records only for the last three years.
Respite likely after May 30
The IMD said respite from the heatwave conditions could be in sight after May 30.
It said that a fresh western disturbance was expected over parts of northwest India on Thursday which could bring isolated rainfall over the region on the weekend.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has attributed the heatwave conditions over northwest and central India to the absence of western disturbances during the latter half of May. These are extra-tropical weather systems formed over the Mediterranean Sea that move from the west to the east.
According to the IMD, 10 weather stations recorded the highest-ever maximum temperature and the highest for the month — Agra-Taj (48.6 degrees Celsius), Dehri in Bihar (47 degrees Celsius), Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh (48.2 degrees Celsius), Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh (49 degrees Celsius), Narnaul in Haryana (48.5 degrees Celsius), Ayanagar-Delhi (47.6 degrees Celsius), New Delhi-Ridge (47.5 degrees Celsius), Rewa in Madhya Pradesh (48.2 degrees Celsius), Rohtak in Haryana (48.1 degrees Celsius), and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh (47.2 degrees Celsius).
Women collect water from a tank in Jaipur | PTI
South Rajasthan slightly cooler
In some much-needed relief, south Rajasthan districts of Barmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Sirohi and Jalore recorded a drop in temperatures up to four notches on Tuesday due to moist wind incursion from the Arabian Sea, indicating the beginning of abatement of heatwave conditions over northwest India.
Numerical weather prediction models showed that this decreasing trend would further extend northwards, bringing gradual respite from heatwave conditions from May 30 onwards.
Also, the incursion of moist winds from the Bay of Bengal from Wednesday onwards is likely to result in a gradual fall in maximum temperatures over Uttar Pradesh from May 30, the IMD said.
“Today, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions prevailed over most parts of Rajasthan, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and in isolated pockets of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh,” it said.
Churu hottest in country
It said that heatwave conditions also prevailed in many places over Vidarbha, in some pockets over Jammu and Kashmir and in isolated pockets of Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.
Churu in Rajasthan was the hottest place in the country with a maximum temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Sirsa-AWS in Haryana (50.3 degrees Celsius), Mungeshpur and Narela (49.9 degrees Celsius), Najafgarh (49.8 degrees Celsius), Sirsa (49.5 degrees Celsius), Ganganagar in Rajasthan (49.4 degrees Celsius), Pilani and Phalodi in Rajasthan and Jhansi (49 degrees Celsius).
Warm night conditions in isolated pockets are very likely to prevail over Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi over the next few days, the weather office said.
The scorching heat prompted the Haryana government to advance summer vacations in all state-run and private schools to Tuesday.
Deaths in Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, the day temperature reached 46.6 degrees Celsius in Jaipur, 49.4 degrees Celsius in Ganganagar, 49 degrees Celsius in Pilani (Jhunjhunu) and Phalodi, 48.3 degrees Celsius in Bikaner and 48.2 degrees Celsius in Kota, according to the Meteorological Centre in Jaipur.
Amid the searing heat, 18 people, mostly homeless, were found dead at various places in Kota in the last four days but the district administration said the exact reasons behind the deaths will be clear only after the receipt of their postmortem report.
“There is no death by heat wave in the district so far and there is nothing related to heat wave in postmortem reports brought to my knowledge,” Kota collector Ravindra Goswami told PTI on Tuesday.
Children beat the heat with ice lollies in Moradabad | PTI
Haryana heat
In Haryana, Sirsa recorded a maximum temperature of 49.5 degrees Celsius — the hottest in the state — and Bathinda sizzled at 47.2 degrees.
An intense heatwave also swept Nuh, which recorded a high of 49 degrees Celsius. Hisar recorded a high of 48.4 degrees, while Rohtak reeled under 48.1 degrees.
Faridabad sizzled at a high of 48.4 degrees, while Mahendragarh recorded a blistering 48.5 degrees Celsius.
Jhajjar, Ambala, and Karnal recorded 48.2 degrees, 44.8 degrees, and 44.6 degrees.
Punjab sizzles
In Punjab, Bathinda recorded a high of 47.2 degrees Celsius, while the airport area of Bathinda sizzled at 49.3 degrees.
Pathankot and Amritsar recorded 46 degrees and 46.3 degrees Celsius.
Ludhiana recorded a high of 46.2 degrees, while Patiala's maximum settled at 46.6 degrees.
Faridkot and Gurdaspur recorded maximum temperatures of 46 degrees and 44 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also braved extremely hot weather at a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius.
Scorching Bihar
Bihar reeled under sizzling heat as the day temperatures crossed 44 degrees Celsius at nine places in the state on Tuesday.
At 47.7 degrees Celsius, Aurangabad was the hottest place in the state on Tuesday, Ashish Kumar, IMD scientist, Patna, said. “This is the highest temperature of this season in Bihar,” he added.
Severe heat will continue in several parts of Bihar in the coming days, the Met department said.
Places that recorded more than 44 degrees Celsius temperature, include Aurangabad (47.7 degrees Celsius), Dehri (47 degrees Celsius), Arwal (46.9 degrees Celsius), Gaya (46.8 degrees Celsius), Bikramganj in Rohtas (46.5 degrees Celsius), Buxar (46.4 degrees Celsius), Bhojpur (45.6 degrees Celsius), Nawada (45.4 degrees Celsius), and Rajgir (44.1 degrees Celsius).
“Gaya at 46.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday recorded its hottest day in the last 11 years,” Kumar said.
In several places, shades have been installed at crossings for waiting traffic like this one in Bikaner | PTI
Jharkhand sears
In Jharkhand, severe heatwave conditions gripped two districts — Palamau and Garhwa — on Tuesday, while other parts of the state, excluding Kolhan and Santhal Pargana regions, faced isolated heatwaves, said a Met department official.
Jharkhand’s Daltoganj on Tuesday recorded 47.5 degrees Celsius temperature, the highest in the past decade in Palamu district.
The weather department has issued an orange alert for heatwave conditions in Palamu, Garhwa and Chatra on May 29 and 30, while a yellow alert for western, southern and central parts of Jharkhand.
Parched Odisha
Heatwave conditions returned to Odisha as well, with the maximum temperature recorded at 45 degrees Celsius or more at three places on Tuesday.
According to the bulletin of IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre, Boudh recorded a maximum temperature of 45.9 degrees Celsius and became the hottest place in Odisha for the day.
With a day temperature of 45.3 degrees Celsius, Sonepur became the second hottest place and it was followed by Titlagarh (45 degrees C).
Apart from the above three places, 14 towns of Odisha registered a maximum temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius during the day. Among these places, Jharsuguda recorded a temperature of 44.8 degrees, Sambalpur (44.6), Bolangir (44.5), Bhawanipatna (44), Hirakud (43.6), Phulbani (43.3) and Nuapada (43).
Boiling Jammu
In Jammu, the maximum temperature settled at the season’s highest of 43.6 degrees Celsius, 4.5 notches above the season’s average.
The minimum temperature, however, was below normal at 23.6 degrees Celsius, said the Meteorological department.
The heatwave conditions will continue in Jammu for the next seven days, the met said.
The region has been reeling under an extreme heatwave for the past week, with temperatures consistently rising above 40 degrees Celsius since May 16.
Power, water supply under pressure
The deadly heatwave is testing power grids and leading to water shortages in parts of the country.
According to the Central Water Commission, water storage in 150 major reservoirs in India dropped to just 24 per cent of their live storage last week, exacerbating water shortages in many states and significantly affecting hydropower generation.
The Maharashtra irrigation department said that the water stock in Jayakwadi dam in the drought-prone Marathwada region stood at a mere 5.19 per cent of its capacity on Monday after recording an evaporation loss of 1.15 MCM (million cubic metres) in a single day due to the heat.
Power demand soars
The intense heat has already driven India’s power demand to 239.96 gigawatts, the highest so far this season, with air conditioners and coolers in homes and offices running at full capacity.
Experts anticipate that power demand could rise even further and surpass the all-time high of 243.27 GW recorded in September 2023.
Severe heatwaves have impacted a large number of people in parts of India for three consecutive years, affecting health, water availability, agriculture, power generation, and other sectors of the economy.
(With agency inputs)
