The Hindu Business Line : Heat relents as cool westerlies dominate

Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 The western disturbance currently blanketing north and northwest India has tossed up two embedded cyclonic circulations, now spearheading cool climes over a sun-baked landscape.

Dust storms during summer evenings are very frequent during May in Punjab, Haryana, eastern Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They bring about light rains and cold breeze, offering a welcome breather from the sizzling heat.

At times, the moisture-laden winds get drawn towards the fringe of the heat low. Moist westerlies rushing head-on into hot air mass give rise to local storms and violent weather. This is what is being witnessed in the plains of the northwest and central India.

India Met Department (IMD) said in an update that the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning saw scattered rain, thundershowers and isolated squall drive their way into northwest and east India.

The causative cyclonic circulation parked above northwest Rajasthan will continue to trigger isolated rain or thundershowers to the accompaniment of squalls over the plains of northwest India during the next 24 hours.

Towards the east, the north-south trough extending from Bihar to north Andhra Pradesh hosted an embedded circulation over east Uttar Pradesh. Isolated to scattered rain or thundershowers or squalls have been forecast for West Bengal, Sikkim, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar until Wednesday.

SQUALL EVENTS

A warning issued separately put Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand under watch for isolated thunder squall events over the next two days.

On Tuesday, the western disturbance refused to move from its overnight perch in the Jammu and Kashmir region. The north-south trough in westerlies running down from sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim to north coastal Andhra Pradesh had become less marked. The cyclonic circulation over east Uttar Pradesh too had become less marked.

The weakening of these systems should gradually allow the heating to resume in right earnest. But heat wave conditions are not expected to peak over northwest and central India for another four days, according to IMD calculations.

All the more so since another weak western disturbance is expected to approach the northwest India by the weekend.

On Tuesday, however, severe heat wave conditions prevailed at isolated places in Punjab, coastal Andhra Pradesh and at isolated places in coastal Orissa, coastal Tamil Nadu and Rayalaseema.

The core of the heating had shifted to the east and southeast India thanks to the intervention in the northwest.

The highest maximum temperature of 44.6{ring}C on Tuesday was recorded at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

Heat wave conditions in the State are expected to abate from Wednesday as unsettled weather sprints into the east.

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