Heat wave claims 3, Shimla experiences hottest day ever

The day's maximum temperature in the hill station was 8.3 degrees above normal and .7 degrees more the previous highest of 31.7 degrees experienced on May 20, 2004, the Met office said.

One person died due to sunstroke in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir while the heat claimed a life each in Jhajjar in Haryana and Pathankot in Punjab.In Himachal Pradesh, temperatures at some places hovered around the 40 degree celsius mark. Mandi saw its hottest ever day in the month of May at 42.2 degrees, seven degrees above normal. Its previous highest was 42.1 degrees recorded on May 31, 1978.

Dharamsala, over which the Dhauladhars tower, had a maximum temperature of 38.2 degrees, its second highest ever. It was 6.7 degrees above normal. The highest ever temperature recorded was 38.6 degrees on May 31, 1988.Una had a high of 44.8 degrees, up from yesterday's 42.2 degrees.

In Punjab and Haryana, daytime temperatures were in the range of 43-47 degrees with Amritsar registering a high of 44.3 degrees, four marks above normal.
Patiala and Ludhiana recorded respective maximum temperatures of 42.1 and 43 degrees.Karnal and Ambala in Haryana saw the mercury settle at 40 degrees while in Bhiwani the high touched 43.6 degrees.

In the national capital, it was a hot day at 45.7 degrees, up five degrees from the normal while the minimum was recorded at 32 degrees, seven degrees above normal.
The desert state also experienced extreme temperatures with Bikaner sizzling at 47.6 degrees.

Jaisalmer recorded a high of 47.4 degrees, Kota 46.1, Barmer 45.8, Churu 44.3 and Jaipur 43 degrees.Mild to intense duststorms affected normal life across the state.
Dehradun in Uttarakhand experienced a daytime temperature of 39 degrees, three notches more than the usual for the season.