DELHI / CHANDIGARH/ JAIPUR / LUCKNOW: Saturday brought no respite from the sweltering heat in north India as temperatures hovered around 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday. On Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a “red category” alert for the National Capital Region, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, west and east Uttar Pradesh, parts of Rajasthan and Vidarbha. The IMD uses a colour-coded scale — green, yellow, amber and red — to denote the severity of weather condition, with red being the most extreme.
A day after the national capital sizzled as it was the hottest day of the season, mercury fell by a notch on Saturday morning. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 27.6 degrees Celsius, a day after parts it registered a high of 46.1 degrees Celsius.In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, cases of heat-related illness were reported as the temperature reached 47 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The IMD has warned that heatwave conditions are likely to prevail in Punjab for a couple of days.
The good news is that thunderstorm accompanied by gusty winds (wind speed 30-40 Kmph) is likely at isolated places on June 3 and 4 in Punjab and Haryana. It stated that the heat wave at many places with severe heat wave at isolated places likely over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh during next 48-72 hours.
There was some good news for Uttar Pradesh, where the Met Centre in Lucknow predicted heavy winds and thunderstorm in Agra, Mathura and nearby areas.
Banda recording the highest temperature at 48 degrees Celsius in UP. The worst hit is Rajasthan with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees Celsius in some parts. The temperature is expected to go up in the next couple of days. Churu was the hottest at 50.8 degrees Celsius, nine degrees above normal. “The next three to four days are going to be hot. After that the temperatures will come down. Most cities in Rajasthan will have temperatures hover around 45 degrees. There a might be exceptions in one or two cities but largely it will be hot,” said Suresh Chand, duty officer at meteorological department in Jaipur.
Rain predicted in some places in Vidarbha
The heatwave in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region seems to have subsided in some parts Saturday. People can look forward to more relief as the meteorological department also predicted possibility of rain with thunderstorm at isolated places in the region