By IANS,
New Delhi : It was a mixed-bag day weather wise in the country Wednesday, with the northern state of Himachal Pradesh hit by hail, Chhattisgarh in central India roasting in intense heat wave, and the northeastern states soaking in rain.
The people in the national capital had a hot and sunny day with the maximum touching 38.7 degrees Celsius, more than three degrees above normal. The minimum temperature in Delhi was 24 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weather bulletin said the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh were experiencing severe heat wave.
“Heat wave condition developed over parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, where maximum temperatures are 43 degrees Celsius and are five degrees above normal,” the bulletin said.
Almost entire Chhattisgarh has also been in the grip of an intense heat wave with mercury shooting up to 42 degrees Celsius.
Normally, the state witnesses 40-degrees plus temperature only in late April or first week of May, but this year the rising temperature and heat wave mid-April has surprised people.
“The daytime temperature has risen to 42 degrees Celsius for the past three days in several districts, including Raipur, which is something new and surprising,” local meteorological department director M.L. Sahu told reporters Wednesday.
He added that temperature is set to rise further and may touch 44 degrees Celsius mark by the end of this month. The state has not recorded over-42 degrees Celsius in April during the past one decade.
The heat wave has affected normal life, but no death of any person has been reported.
“The current meteorological analysis suggests that no significant change in temperature scenario during next 2-3 days,” the IMD bulletin said.
Meanwhile, a hailstorm along with strong winds and rain lashed state capital Shimla and many other places in Himachal Pradesh Wednesday, bringing about a sharp drop in temperature.
The minimum temperature dipped to 11.6 degrees Celsius in Shimla as the hail heaped up in many places in the resort town.
The spell of wet weather continued for the second day at many other places in the hill state.
The upper reaches of the Kullu Valley, including Hanuman peak, Manali peak, Seven sisters peak, the Rohtang pass and the Hamta pass, recorded fresh spell of light snowfall Wednesday.
The tribal region of Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur also experienced snowfall, which intensified the cold spell in the region.
Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar has been receiving rainfall since past few days.
The city recorded 23.4 mm of rainfall Wednesday with the Met Office forecasting more wet weather in the coming few days.
The weather department has said that northeastern states and parts of West Bengal and Sikkim would receive rain for the next 48 hours till Friday.
The following were the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall in major cities for the 24 hours till Wednesday morning, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average.
City Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Rainfall
(C) (C) (mm)
New Delhi 38.7 (+3) 24.0 (+3) Nil
Mumbai 33.3 (0) 23.4 (-1) Nil
Chennai 33.9 (+1) 26.4 (0) Nil
Kolkata 34.0 (-2) 26.5 (+2) 0.2
Ahmedabad 39.9 (+1) 24.8 (+2) Nil
Bangalore 34.7 (+1) 22.6 (+1) Nil
Bhopal 40.0 (+2) 22.0 (+1) Nil
Bhubaneswar 36.0 (-1) 27.0 (+2) Nil
Chandigarh 35.4 (+1) 19.8 (+1) Nil
Dehradun 33.6 (+2) 20.7 (+3) 0.2
Goa 33.6 (+1) 26.0 (+1) Nil
Guwahati 28.0 (-4) 20.7 (+1) 5.7
Hyderabad 34.7 (0) 25.2 (+1) Nil
Jaipur 38.2 (+1) 20.1 (-1) Nil
Lucknow 40.0 (+2) 22.0 (+1) Nil
Nagpur 42.7 (+4) 25.3 (+1) Nil
Patna 37.0 (+2) 24.4 (+1) Nil
Pune 39.5 (+2) 19.6 (0) Nil
Srinagar 15.9 (-4) 6.2 (-2) 23.4
Thiruvananthapuram 33.2 (0) 25.2 (0) Nil