JOIN USNorth India will sizzle as the mercury is all set to push maximum temperature up by two degrees Celsius over the next 48 hours in north-west India and a severe heat wave will sweep Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The heat wave conditions could make day-time miserable for people in pockets of west Uttar Pradesh, north Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and interior Odisha in the next 24 hours.
The upward journey of the mercury will continue in the north-west where the maximum temperature has changed little in the last 48 hours.
The maximum temperatures were markedly above normal in east Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand; appreciably above normal in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and West Uttar Pradesh, and above normal in Punjab. The highest maximum temperature in the region was recorded at Allahabad at 46.5 degrees Celsius, Indian Meteorological Department said.
“Maximum temperature would increase over plains of north-west India by about two degrees Celsius in the next 48 hours,” IMD cautioned in its forecast on Thursday.
At the same time, it warned of severe heat wave conditions in Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh when the day temperature will rise 4-5 degrees above the maximum.
The hopes of a monsoon revival by Thursday faded as the initial, encouraging cyclonic conditions formed on both sides of the coast, migrated far and wide in the last two days. On the Arabian Sea side, it moved up reducing rainfall possibility, whereas on the Bay of Bengal it shifted towards north-east, which may bring some rain in Assam and Meghalaya.
“June may not turn out to be very encouraging for monsoon. We are hoping for development of the monsoon after June 17-18,” a weather scientist told Deccan Herald.
After the first two weeks of south-west monsoon, 63 per cent districts received deficient or scanty rainfall, which is the highest in the last five years. This means monsoon reached more number of districts within the first two weeks since 2007.
While the IMD forecast a normal monsoon in April with 99 per cent rainfall, it did not rule out chances of a below normal rainfall because of the distant possibility of emergence of El Nino – an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean that plays havoc with weather all over the world – during the monsoon season. A positive El Nino is bad news for India as it can reduce monsoon rainfall.