JOIN USScattered light to moderate rains seen in north India; heavy downpour likely in next few days
It was a hot Saturday across most of the north Indian plains with isolated light to moderate rainfall in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, but the region is expected to witness heavy downpour in the next couple of days.
While Pali was recorded the hottest place in Rajasthan as 42.5 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature of the day in Uttar Pradesh was registered in Jhansi at 41.2 degrees Celsius. The mercury in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana hovered a couple of notches above normal.
There was heavy rainfall and thunderstorm accompanied with lightning at isolated places over eastern Uttar Pradesh, and in Himachal Pradesh, the weather office issued a warning of landslides due to heavy rainfall predicted in the next three-four days.
Delhi's maximum temperature settled at 38.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, on Saturday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting heavy rainfall at isolated places in the city towards Sunday afternoon and evening.
The weatherman said generally cloudy skies with moderate rainfall and thundershowers were likely in most of the city, and the maximum and the minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 35 and 27 degrees Celsius respectively.
The Meteorological Centre in Himchal Pradesh’s Shimla said the latest weather conditions and interpretations of different global and regional models indicated that rainfall activity was very likely to increase around Saturday for the next three-four days with moderate to heavy rainfall in lower and middle hills of the state.
The expected weather conditions may trigger landslides on national and state highways, inundations in low-lying area, high discharge in stream and nullahs, besides disruption of traffic and other electrical and communication channels, it warned, advising the state government to take adequate safety measures.
Rainfall was recorded at isolated places over the state during the day. Shahpur received 35 mm rain, Malan 29 mm, Guler and Barthin 12 mm each, and Pidana, Dalhousie and Tisso 10 mm each, the Met centre said.
The highest temperature was recorded in Una at 38.2 degrees Celsius, and the lowest was in Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong at 14.8 degrees Celsius.
Light to moderate rainfall and thundershower occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, the weather office in state capital Lucknow said. Rainfall was recorded in Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, Bahraich, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, and Shahjahanpur, it added.
The weather office said thunderstorm accompanied with lighting is very likely at isolated places over the state on Sunday, and rainfall and thundershowers are expected at most places on July 19 and July 20.
In Rajasthan, light to moderate rainfall was recorded in several parts and more are predicted at isolated places in the state during the next two days.
While Girwa (Udaipur), Narayana (Jaipur) and Bikaner recorded 2 cm rainfall each, a few more places recorded 1 cm or less since Friday. Tonk, Dholpur, Bikaner and Churu received 7 mm, 5.5 mm, 3.2 mm and 1.7 mm rainfall since Saturday morning, the weather office in Jaipur said.
The mercury reached 42.2 degrees Celsius in both Dholpur and Ganganagar during the day.
Sultry weather conditions prevailed in most places in Haryana and Punjab, with maximum temperatures hovering above normal limits. Common capital Chandigarh recorded a high of 37.5 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal.
According to the weather office in Chandigarh, Bathinda in Punjab and Narnaul in Haryana recorded respective maximums of 41 degrees Celsius and 40.3 degrees Celsius.
Ambala in Haryana recorded a maximum temperature of 37.4 degrees Celsius each, up four notches, while Hisar registered a high of 39.8 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.
The maximum temperature in Rohtak settled at 38 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, while Gurgaon registered a high of 39.2 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal. Karnal's maximum settled at 36 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius, two degrees above normal. Ludhiana recorded a high of 37.7 degrees Celsius and Patiala 37.6 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal in both cases.