Relief after rains in north; sun scorches Odisha

Light rains on Thursday brought some respite from the searing heat in northern states even as 2 persons died in Odisha due to heat wave.

Eight people, including 2 children, were killed in Uttar Pradesh, while one person was killed in Madhya Pradesh in incidents of house collapse and lightning strike.

Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana heaved a sigh of relief as light showers brought mercury down by several notches in parts of these states.

Eight die in UP

In Uttar Pradesh, temperatures once again soared after Tuesday's rains and dust storm. According to the sources here, 3 people, including a woman, were killed in Ballia district in incidents of house collapse during the storm.

A child was killed in Balrampur district after being struck by lightning in the early hours of Wednesday, sources said.

Two youths were killed when a tree fell on their motor bike in Lakhimpur-Kheri district on Wednesday.

The Weather office has predicted rise in the temperature in the next few days.
Temperatures in the national capital, which recorded light rains overnight, dropped to 35.4 degrees Celsius, 3 notches below the season’s average. The minimum temperature in the city was 22 degrees.

However, Odisha, which continued to reel under the blistering sun, reported 2 more heat wave-related deaths, one each in Angul and Jajpur districts, taking the toll to 16. Bhubaneswar and Sonepur were the hottest in the state at 43.5 degrees.

“The number of unconfirmed sunstroke deaths has increased to 156 from 152,” the office of the state’s Special Relief Commissioner said.

Rain and thunder shower may occur at one or two places in the next couple of days but the temperature would continue to rise again from coming Sunday, the local met office said in a press statement.

For Telangana, the MeT office predicted light to moderate rains or thundershowers at some places during the next 5 days. There was an “appreciable” fall in maximum temperatures at one or two places in the state. The highest maximum temperature of 44 degree Celsius was recorded at Hanamakonda.

Temperatures fell below the 40 degree-mark in Punjab and Haryana, with rains lashing some places in both states. Chandigarh had light rains and recorded a high of 36.4 deg C.

There was slight respite from the blistering heat in Rajasthan as the day temperatures fell by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius in some parts which experienced light rainfall. Kota was the hottest place in the state with a maximum temperature of 40.2 degree Celsius.

In Kerala, parts of Palakkad district continued to reel under severe heat on Thursday even as the weatherman predicted a spell of showers in the state over the next 3 to 5 days. Maximum temperature remained “markedly above normal” in Palakkad, at 41°C.

The south-west monsoon is expected to hit Kerala by the end of May. Forecasting agencies have predicted normal to above-normal rainfall during the monsoon season.
Gujarat to get more rains.

In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, it was cloudy, dusty but hot and humid on Thursday. The temperature was at a high of 40 degrees. The weather was no different in many parts of the state, with reports of mild showers to the tune of 2.3 mm being reported from the port town of Kandla.