By IANS,
New Delhi : With Monsoon clouds gathering over parts of Bay of Bengal and the south Andaman Sea, the weather conditions in these areas as well as the north and central parts of the country remained pleasant Tuesday.
According to the Met Department, the southwest Monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast about five to seven days before the scheduled date of June 1. The news of approaching Monsoon, which accounts for four-fifths of the nation’s annual rains, brought cheer to farmers across the country.
The overcast conditions kept the temperatures in most of the places adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal below normal, and a low-pressure area has formed over north Andaman Sea, the Met Office said.
The highest maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius in the country was recorded at Ongole (Andhra Pradesh).
In the capital, it was a comparatively pleasant day Tuesday with the maximum temperature remaining at 37.9 degrees Celsius, one degree Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded 27.3 degrees Celsius.
Taking advantage of a day that was relatively less hot, Delhi residents could be seen venturing out of their homes or work places without umbrellas or caps. The sun beat down, but it was less harsh than a fortnight back.
If the Met Department is to be believed, these weather conditions are likely to persist in the capital and north and central regions of the country over the next three to four days.
During the 24 hours end Tusday aftenoon, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The enhanced rainfall activity is likely to continue during the next 2-3 days, the weatherman said.
Isolated squall is also forecast over West Bengal, Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, east Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
The following were the maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall figure in major cities for the 24 hours till Tuesday evening, with figures in brackets denoting deviations from the average:
City Maximum Temperature (C) Minimum Temperature (C) Rainfall (mm)
Delhi 37.9 (-1) 27.3 (+2) Nil
Mumbai 33 (0) 26 (0) Nil
Chennai 41.2 (+4) 24.2 (-4) Nil
Kolkata 36.5 (+1) 27.6 (+2) Trace
Ahmedabad 41.0 (-1) 26.6 (+1) Nil
Bangalore 35.6 (0) 22 (0) Nil
Bhopal 40.6 (0) 16.6 (-8) Nil
Bhubaneshwar 37.8 (0) 24.6 (-2) Nil
Chandigarh 32.4 (0) 21.4 (0) Trace
Dehradun 34.9 (-1) 18.8 (-1) Nil
Panaji 34.3 (+1) 24.8 (-1) Nil
Guwahati 36.4 (+5) 23.4 (+1) Nil
Hyderabad 40.2 (+1) 26.7 (+1) Nil
Jaipur 39.6 (0) 18.6 (-6) Nil
Lucknow 39.2 (-1) 23.8 (0) Nil
Nagpur 43.8 (+1) 27.1 (-1) Nil
Patna 38.0 (-1) 25.4 (0) Nil
Pune 37.3 (-1) 21.8 (0) Nil
Srinagar 23.6 (0) 12.2 (0) Nil
Thiruvananthapuram 32.6 (+1) 25.2 (0) Nil