North to face heatwave till April 10; yellow alert for Punjab, Delhi

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heatwave conditions in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. A yellow alert has been sounded for Punjab from April 7 to 10 and the national capital till April 9.

Delhi recorded 40.2°C — 5.2 notches above normal on Monday. The temperatures are likely to soar to 42°C on April 8 and 9. From April 10 to 13, Delhi may not experience heat wave conditions and the day temperatures are likely to hover between 37°C and 40°C.

In the past 24 hours, Punjab has recorded the highest maximum temperature of 39.7°C. Day temperatures in the state were above normal by 3.1 to 6 notches. The IMD has also sounded yellow alert for Punjab from April 7 to 10. The weather department expects a further rise in the maximum temperature across Punjab by two to four notches over the next three days and fall by two to three degrees thereafter.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded during this period was 17.1°C at Ludhiana’s Ballowal Saunkhri. Night temperatures, too, were above normal in all districts of the state, with the deviation ranging from 1.6 to 4.4°C.

The IMD has also warned of a fresh western disturbance in the western Himalayan region from April 8. The system will bring down the day temperatures slightly in parts of North India. Under the influence of the western disturbance, parts of Punjab may experience rain, along with thunderstorms and lightning on April 10 and 11. Scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds are also likely over neighbouring regions of HP, J&K, Ladakh and Uttarakhand form April 9 to 11.

“Today, maximum temperatures are above normal by 5-8°C over most parts of J&K, HP, Rajasthan, Delhi, Ladakh many parts of Punjab, some parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, isolated places of Saurashtra and Kutch, and 1-4° over the remaining parts of Gujarat, most parts of Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh, UP, many parts of Odisha, and some parts of Jharkhand,” an IMD official said.

The average maximum temperature over north-west India during the month remained higher at 28.99°C, against the normal of 27.64°C. Similarly, the average minimum was 17.79°C, against the normal of 16.94°C. —TNS