New Delhi, May 1
Maximum temperature in most parts of India is likely to be above normal in May and a significantly higher number of heat wave days will be observed, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.
The number of heat wave days will be higher by about two to eight days. Normally, the heat wave prevails over northern plains, central India and adjoining areas of peninsular India for about three days in May.
Prolonged spell
A prolonged heat wave spell over east and south peninsular India in April was caused due to the absence of thunderstorms. Climatologically, heat waves over the country last one to three days during May. But this year, we expect above normal heat wave days in the month. —Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, IMD Chief
The number of heat wave days is likely to be above normal by about five-eight days over south Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Gujarat region and by about two-four days over remaining parts of Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Chhattisgarh, interior Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, north interior Karnataka and Telangana and isolated pockets of north Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh.
IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said prolonged heat wave spell over east and south peninsular India in April was due to absence of thunderstorms. “Climatologically, heat waves over the country last one to three days during May. But this year, we expect above normal heat wave days in the month,” Mohapatra said.
The IMD declares a heat wave when the normal maximum temperature recorded over at least two localities in plains touches 40 degrees Celsius or is 4.5 degrees Celsius above normal. A heat wave is declared in hilly and coastal regions when temperatures cross 30 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius, respectively. The department also said India would witness normal rainfall — 61.4 mm — in May. Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and southern Jharkhand will receive normal rainfall. Kerala, southern Andhra Pradesh, northern Jharkhand, eastern India and Chhattisgarh, however, will experience below average rainfall, according to the IMD.
It said Odisha experienced the longest heat wave spell (16 days) since 2016 this April.
South peninsular India, it said, recorded an average maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius in April, which was the second highest since 1901. The average minimum temperature (22 degrees Celsius) in April in east and North-east India was the highest since 1901, Mohapatra said.
“The above normal maximum temperatures have become frequent over south peninsular India since the 1980s,” he added.
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