No respite from heat wave till May 27

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, May 23

After battling violent thunderstorms and squalls, Northwest and Central parts of the counrty are now reeling under severe heat-wave conditions with temperatures ruling five degree Celsius above normal at many places.

While heat-wave conditions are "very likely" to persist over parts of Northwest and Central India till May 27 amid concerns over twin cyclones affecting the movement of southwest monsoon, the IMD says conditions are "very likely" to become favourable for its further advance into South Andaman Sea and neighbourhood during the next 72 hours.

Maximum temperatures today rode markedly past normal (5.1 degree C or more) at many places over Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh and appreciably above normal (3.1 degree C to 5.0 degree C) at most places in Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, adding to people's discomfort.

High temperatures can be a recipe for thunderstorms but as of now there are no signs of relief for at least next four to five days, say meteorologists.

The rise in day's maximum is due to hot northwesterly winds and clear sky conditions.

Meanwhile, conditions were becoming favourable for further advancement of monsoon. There are concerns about its movement being affected by twin cyclones in the Arabian Sea. Seas on two side of the Indian peninsula play a crucial role in monsoon flow and two back-to-back cyclonic storms (Sagar and Mekunu) in the Arabian Sea are considered an exception in the monsoon run-up.

Such severe cyclones are known to drain out monsoon flow and stall its progress.

The IMD says "severe cyclonic storm" Mekunu is very likely to intensify further into a "very severe cyclonic storm" during next 24 hours and "very likely to move north-northwestwards. It will cross south Oman, southeast Yemen coasts as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with maximum sustained surface wind 150-160 kmph gusting to 180 kmph. "As the system is away from the Indian coast, no adverse weather is expected along and off west coast of India," it adds.