Report by Tanya Singh:
Many parts of north India, particularly Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, are likely to witness scorching summer in the coming days, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday. IMD said the mean maximum temperatures in Delhi and Haryana could be 0.71 degree Celsius higher than normal, the highest predicted deviation from normal in the country after Chhattisgarh, where temperatures are likely to be 0.86 degree C above normal.
West UP could be almost as hot with 0.61 degree C higher-than-normal maximum temperatures during the season. On the other hand, the summer in Maharashtra and parts of south India like Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been predicted to see cooler day temperatures compared to the north Indian regions. It should be noted that last year, summer was not that severe due to frequent thunderstorms and fewer heatwaves. The IMD’s seasonal outlook for temperatures from this March to May said above normal maximum temperatures were likely over many subdivisions.
The IMD last month had said the minimum temperature recorded in the country in January was the warmest for the month in 62 years. South India was particularly warm. The month was the warmest in 121 years, with 22.33 degrees Celsius in south India, followed by 22.14 degrees Celsius in 1919 and 21.93 degrees Celsius in 2020 as the second and third warmest months. Central India was also the warmest (14.82 degrees Celsius) in the last 38 years after 1982 (14.92 degrees Celsius), while 1958 with 15.06 degrees Celsius was the warmest in the 1901-2021 period.