Heat wave conditions in East as thunderstorms stalk North-West

Heat wave conditions prevailed over many parts over parts of East India and were isolated in North-West India even as thunderstorms broke out elsewhere during the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning.

The India Met Department has already warned that this hot weather season (April-June) would witness above normal heat wave conditions over North-West and Central India.

Thunderstorms were observed over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Haryana in North-West India.

In the East and North-East, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura were the beneficiaries while Madhya Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka and Kerala too joined the party.

Most parts of North-West India and Central India have received normal to excess rainfall during the spring-summer season beginning March 1 and until March 30. The South Peninsula and North-East India are the worst-hit in terms of rainfall deficit during this period.

Odisha, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttarakhand too find themselves in the red.

IMD pointed to a trough running down from East Madhya Pradesh to the Comorin region across Vidarbha, Telangana, Rayalaseema, and interior Tamil Nadu.

This represents an elongated area of lower pressure where winds blowing in from the sea will be lifted up where its moisture content will cool and condense to become thundershowers.

This is what brought rainfall to Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Telangana, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala during the 24 hours ending on Tuesday morning.

Similarly, a trough ran down from Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim to Odisha across Gangetic West Bengal, which is attracting moisture from the North Bay of Bengal and dropping rain in the East and North-East. Meanwhile, in what is likely to come as good news for North-West India and Central India, the Met said that the maximum (day) temperatures may come down by 2 to 3 deg Celsius during the next three days.

But no large change is expected in temperatures over West and Peninsular India, the Met added. In forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, it said that heavy rain will be likely over the North-eastern States on the first day and a sustained thunderstorm regime accompanied by squall on the second day.

The US National Centres for Environmental Prediction sees sustained thundershowers over central and western Maharashtra, Kerala and adjoining Tamil Nadu during the seven days ending April 13.

It will peter out to a large extend during the succeeding week, although the US agency shows a narrow wet trail extending north from Kerala towards North Interior Karnataka.

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