By IANS
New Delhi : As the mercury continued to rise Wednesday, millions in Delhi and the national capital region experienced a warm day and a not-so-cold night.
The difference in the maximum at nearly 26 degrees and the minimum at eight degrees Celsius was almost 15 degrees Celsius.
The lines at doctor’s clinic grew almost overnight as the number of patients – mostly children and elderly – complaining of cough, cold and asthma almost doubled.
“I survived the most of bitter cold in January and February with any problems, but this change in weather has worsened my asthmatic condition,” said Kamlesh Sharma, 70, from north Delhi.
Delhi – and most of the country’s north – was reeling under a severe cold wave for over a month now, with the season’s lowest recorded at 1.9 degrees Celsius Jan 2, and the lowest temperature this month at 2.9 degrees Feb 2.
The Met Office here said that a fresh western disturbance over the northern plains could push up the minimum temperature in the plains by two to three degrees in the next couple of days till Friday.
The lowest temperature in the plains was 4.5 degrees Celsius recorded at Narnaul in Haryana.
Meanwhile, a thunder squall followed by a hailstorm hit the Orissa capital Bhubaneswar, uprooting trees and damaging property worth millions.
“The thunder squall with hailstorm hit for five to six minutes in the afternoon,” an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological office told IANS.
The weather office has forecast more rain or thundershowers at many places in coastal Orissa, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar and northeastern states.
The following are 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)
Delhi 26.4 (+1) 8.2 (-3) Nil
Mumbai 30.3 (-2) 18.7 (+2) Nil
Chennai 31.0 (+1) 21.2 (-1) Nil
Kolkata 29.6 (0) 17.1 (0) 1.1
Ahmedabad 33.7 (+3) 11.7 (-3) Nil
Bangalore 31.1 (+1) 18.6 (0) Nil
Bhopal 31.0 (+2) 12.9 (0) Nil
Bhubaneswar 31.0 (0) 21.5 (+2) Trace
Chandigarh 25.6 (+3) 7.2 (-3) Nil
Dehradun 22.0 (0) 9.7 (+1) Nil
Panaji 30.7 (0) 18.8 (-2) Nil
Guwahati 23.1 (-4) 10.7 (-1) Nil
Hyderabad 33.0 (+1) 20.0 (+3) Nil
Jaipur 27.9 (+1) 10.6 (-1) Nil
Lucknow 26.1 (-1) 8.6 (-1) Nil
Nagpur 34.6 (+2) 14.4 (-2) Nil
Patna 27.8 (0) 11.1 (-2) Nil
Pune 34.3 (+2) 15.4 (+3) Nil
Srinagar 13.8 (+5) -2.5 (-3) Nil
Thiruvananthapuram 32.5 (+1) 22.5 (0) Nil