Severe heat wave sweeps Punjab, Met issues red alert for June 12-13

With weather in Punjab remaining dry and some places experiencing a severe heat wave, the Met department has issued a ‘red alert’ for the state for June 12 and 13 and has advised the public to take due caution against heat-induced illness.

Heat wave to severe heat wave conditions are likely to continue over north-west India, including the western Himalayan region, till June 13 and reduce thereafter, according to a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on June 11.

Light to moderate rainfall at some places, accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with speed reaching 40-50 kmph, are likely over Himachal Pradesh during June 12-17 and over parts of Punjab and Haryana during June 13-17.

Over the past 24 hours, day temperatures were markedly above normal by up to 6.5 degrees Celsius in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Nawanshahar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts.

These were above normal by up to 4.4 degrees Celsius in all the southern districts of the state, including Fazilka, Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Moga, Bhattinda, Barnala, Mansa, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar and some parts of Sangrur districts.

During this period, Bathinda remained the hottest place during the day and the coolest at night. The highest maximum temperature recorded in Punjab was 47.6 degrees Celsius, while the lowest minimum temperature was 26.6 degrees Celsius.

The IMD does not expect any large change in maximum temperature in the state for the next three days after which it is likely to fall by 2-4 degrees Celsius. The weather is likely to be dry during the next three days with the possibility of rain at isolated places thereafter.

An upper air cyclonic circulation lies over Haryana at 900 meters above mean sea level and a fresh western disturbance in middle tropospheric westerlies lying over Iran at a height of 5800 metres is likely to affect north-west India from June 13 and bring in pre-monsoon showers.

Monsoon is expected to hit the eastern border of Himachal Pradesh on June 20 and enter Punjab around June 27. At present, the northern limit of the Monsoon is passing over Mumbai, Ahilyanagar, Adilabad, Bhawanipatna, Puri, Sandhead Island, Balurghat and most parts of north-east India.

Conditions are likely to be favourable for further advancement of monsoon over some more parts of central and adjoining east India around June 14, IMD said. Monsoon is expected to be in an active phase with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places over south peninsular India during June 12-16 and over Konkan and Goa during June 12-16. Some parts of south India are already experiencing heavy rain.