THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Palakkad and Thrissur districts having experienced heatwaves over the past few days, Alappuzha is now facing a looming threat of similar conditions.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heatwave alert — along with a warm night warning — for Alappuzha, marking the first instance of such an advisory in the district. The alert indicates that both daytime and night temperatures are expected to remain uncomfortably high.
Alappuzha has been experiencing a noticeable increase in temperature this summer, with Tuesday recording 37.1°Celsius. Monday had seen a record-breaking high for April, with the mercury soaring to 38.3°Celsius.
“The high humidity in Alappuzha is a criterion considered for the heatwave alert. While other districts have a criteria of 40°Celsius, Alappuzha requires only 37°Celsius along with a departure of 4.5°Celsius to be considered for the alert,” said Rajeevan Erikkulam, a meteorologist with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority.
“The rise in sea surface temperature attributed to El Nino is a major contributing factor to the rise in temperature this year. Besides the changes in the local land conditions and absence of summer rains worsened the weather condition,” he added.
IMD issued a warm night alert in Alappuzha on Tuesday based on the unusual departure of over 4°Celsius in minimum temperature.
On Tuesday, the Met department on Tuesday issued heatwave alerts in Palakkad, Thrissur and Kozhikode, besides Alappuzha, until May 2.
While IMD extended the orange alert in Palakkad, it issued yellow alerts in the other three districts. Palakkad is likely to record a maximum temperature of 41°Celsius.
Be on guard
The IMD on Tuesday issued heatwave alerts in Palakkad, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kozhikode until May 2
Monday saw Alappuzha recording an all-time high for April, with the mercury soaring to 38.3°Celsius
Warm night alert in Alappuzha on Tuesday based on the unusual departure of over 4°Celsius in minimum temperature
IMD extends orange alert in Palakkad
Thrissur is likely to record a maximum temperature of 40°Celsius, Kozhikode 39°Celsius and Alappuzha 38 °Celsius during the period. Palakkad escaped the heatwave condition by a slight margin, thereby breaking the trend of the past four days. The district reported 40.4°Celsius, which is 4.4°Celsius above the normal on the day. Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kozhikode reported temperatures 3-3.5°Celsius above the normal. Southern districts received rain in many places, with isolated pockets receiving thunderstorms.