Parts of India to experience another spell of heat wave this week
NEW DELHI: Heat wave conditions are likely to prevail over parts of Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Konkan, Saurashtra and Kutch, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, and Telangana over the next five days, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday in its latest update.
Heat wave conditions are expected in isolated pockets of Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal during April 16–20; north Konkan, Saurashtra and Kutch during Tuesday–Wednesday; coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on Wednesday–Thursday; and Telangana during Tuesday–Thursday.
Besides, the weather bureau updated that hot and humid weather is very likely to prevail over Gangetic West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and Rayalaseema from Tuesday–Saturday; Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Mahe on Tuesday–Wednesday; coastal areas of Gujarat from Tuesday–Thursday; and Konkan and Goa from Thursday–Saturday.
The warm night is very likely to prevail over Madhya Maharashtra during Tuesday–Thursday and over Odisha during Wednesday–Saturday.
In the first spell of the heat wave, heat wave conditions prevailed over parts of eastern and peninsular India in early April.
Regions that experienced heat waves in the first spell were Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, North Interior Karnataka, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema and Telangana.
A heatwave is a condition of air temperature that becomes fatal to the human body when exposed. It is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of the actual temperature or its departure from normal.
In certain countries, it is defined in terms of the heat index based on temperature and humidity or based on the extreme percentile of the temperatures.
A heat wave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius or more for plains and at least 30 degrees Celsius or more for hilly regions.
IMD advised people to avoid heat exposure, wear lightweight, light-coloured, loose cotton clothes, cover their heads, and use a cloth, hat or umbrella.