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Dust storm in Punjab, Haryana likely

Mercury may come down: Met office

REGION

NATION

Read under headings Max (maximum temperature), Min (minimum temperature), R (rainfall in past 24 hours) and TR (total rainfall):

Dust storm in Punjab, Haryana likely
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 16
Rainfall: Rain/thundershowers have occurred at a few places in Uttaranchal. Weather was dry in the rest of the region. Mukteshwar (Uttaranchal) has recorded 1 cm of rainfall.

Temperatures: The maximum temperatures changed little. They were largely above normal in Jammu and Kashmir, markedly above normal in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and west Rajasthan, appreciably above normal in Haryana and east Rajasthan, above normal in west Uttar Pradesh and normal in the rest of the region. The highest temperature in the region was 44 degree C recorded at Sriganganagar.

Forecast valid until the morning of April 18: Rain/thundershowers accompanied with thunder squalls are likely at a few places in west Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal and at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and east Uttar Pradesh. Isolated dust storm/thunderstorm is likely in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Weather will be mainly dry in the rest of the region.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: Rain/thundershowers are likely at a few places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal. Isolated dust storm/thunderstorm is likely in the rest of the region.

Forecast for Delhi and neighbourhood valid until the morning of April 18: Mainly clear sky, likely to become partly cloudy towards evening/night with possibility of dust storm/thunderstorm in some areas. The maximum temperature will be around 40 degree C.

Farmers weather bulletin for Delhi forecast valid until the morning of April 18: Dust storm/thunderstorm is likely at a few places.

Outlook for the subsequent two days: Isolated dust storm/thunderstorm likely.

Mercury may come down: Met office
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 16
It is just mid-April and temperatures all over the north, central and west India are soaring, well beyond the comfort zone. The year 2007 seems to have missed the spring with even cooler climes of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh remaining not so cool anymore.

With the mercury shooting up, people across the region in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh and most parts of Maharashtra today experienced temperatures well above 40 degree Celsius, at least five to six degree above what normal temperatures are during this time of the year.

In fact, it has been unusually hot in the entire northern belt and temperatures have been above normal in most of the Indo-Gangetic plains. There has been a gradual rise in day temperatures, leading to heat wave conditions in some areas like Rajasthan.

“Temperatures are above normal but fluctuations have been observed in the past five years during the first week of April. The rise in temperatures have been due to the fact that during the past one week, there has been no weather activity thus it has been largely dry and clear. Moreover, anti-cyclonic conditions in Rajasthan that resulted in warm southerly winds flowing in,” weathermen say.

As per the Met Department, Srinagar experienced a high of 29 degree Celsius, almost 10 degree above the normal. Shimla at 24 degree Celsius was almost five degree above the normal. Jammu was five degree and Amritsar six degree more than the usual temperatures during this time of the year.

The UK Met office has already predicted 2007 to be the hottest year ever that is expected to top the previous hottest year in the history -1998. The prediction was based on increasing trend in global temperatures and the presence of El Nino conditions, an event that also affects the Indian monsoon.

El-Nino weather pattern is caused by warming of Pacific waters off South America. Some weather experts say if a year is a El-Nino year, there are 50 per cent chances of it adversely affecting the monsoon. But all years are not El Nino as some years may be normal and others La Nina. The Pune-based National Climate Centre is closely watching the latest trends in El Nino warming to know its impact on monsoon rains, crucial for the country’s farm-dependant economy.

But the Met office is hopeful of temperatures coming down in the next few days. A feeble western disturbance is approaching, which is expected to bring down the mercury.

“Current Met analysis suggests that isolated dust storms or thundershowers are likely over plains of the northwest, including Delhi, during the next two to three days. Isolated rains and thundershowers are also likely over the west Himalayan region and Uttar Pradesh. Consequently, day temperatures are expected to fall over the northwest India leading to abatement of heat wave from some parts,” the IMD says.