By IANS,
New Delhi : A brief morning shower and a largely overcast sky set a perfect Sunday mood for Delhiites as the mercury kept unusually low for this time of the season, and people in the north-eastern and southern India braced for more rains.
The weather in the north-west and central India continued to remain somewhat pleasant after the intense heat wave conditions a fortnight ago subsided due to the sporadic rains and thundershowers.
The weather in the region will remain unchanged throughout this week – at least until Friday, the weatherman forecast.
Thundershowers along with hail struck Shimla and other resort towns of Himachal Pradesh Sunday, sharply bringing down the mercury. The unusual cold spell forced many to pull out their woollens in the popular resort town, which is bursting with tourists.
Thundershowers also lashed nearby Himachal Pradesh resorts of Kufri, Wildflower Hall, Chail, Narkanda and Kasauli. The hill state has been experiencing a wet weather spell for the past few days.
In Delhi, people woke up with a sigh of relief as the weather became rather cool and pleasant after the sporadic, pre-dawn rain. The maximum temperature Sunday was 38.4 degrees Celsius while the minimum was 21.4 degrees Celsius. The maxium in the 24 hours until Sunday afternoon, however, was 36.5 degrees Celsius – three degrees lower than normal — and the minimum 21.4 degrees Celsius, nearly five degrees Celsius lower than normal.
The meteorological department has forecast a low-pressure belt over the east-central Bay of Bengal and the north Andaman Sea, and said it is likely to advance to other areas by Monday and Tuesday.
People in the eastern and north-eastern India will continue to enjoy the welcome rains, which helped to subdue the blistering sun of the previous week.
Bihar, Orissa, north Andhra Pradesh, parts of eastern and north-eastern India will receive scattered rains and thundershowers till Wednesday, according to the weather office.
Rain or thundershowers are also expected in many places in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during this period.
Tamil Nadu, south interior Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, the Lakshadweep Islands and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will continue to receive rain and thundershowers.
Isolated rains and thundershowers accompanied with squalls are expected in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal and Sikkim and coastal Orissa during the period.
Rajasthan will experience dust storms and the weather in the state will remain usually dry. The weatherman has forecast heavy rainfall in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Monday and Tuesday.
The following were the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall figure in major cities for the 24 hours till Sunday evening, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average:
City Maximum Temperature (C) Minimum Temperature (C) Rainfall (mm)
Delhi 36.5 (-3) 21.4 (-5) 3.4
Mumbai 33.5 (+1) 26.2 (0) Nil
Chennai 40.1 (+5) 27.9 (+1) Nil
Kolkata 37.2 (+1) 22.2 (+4) 18.2
Ahmedabad 39.0 (-2) 25.6 (0) Nil
Bangalore 34.8 (+2) 21.8 (+1) Nil
Bhopal 39.2 (-3) 23.9 (-1) Nil
Bhubaneshwar 37.3 (-2) 26.6 (0) TRACE
Chandigarh 35.0 (-3) 21.4 (-2) 1.0
Dehradun 33.6 (-2) 18.1 (-3) TRACE
Panaji 34.7 (-3) 26.7 (0) Nil
Guwahati 29.5 (-1) 22.2 (0) 19.5
Hyderabad 40.2 (-1) 27.7 (+2) TRACE
Jaipur 36.4 (-4) 21.0 (-4) 6.9
Lucknow 39.0 (-2) 23.6 (-1) Nil
Nagpur 42.1 (0) 28.3 (0) Nil
Patna 39.9 (+1) 26.4 (+1) Nil
Pune 36.9 (0) 22.1 (0) Nil
Srinagar 22.0 (-1) 8.9 (-1) Nil
Thiruvananthapuram 32.9 (+1) 25.6 (+1) Nil